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Arts|Michael Cole, ‘Mod Squad’ Actor, Dies at 84
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/arts/michael-cole-dead.html
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Mr. Cole, who played the wealthy Pete Cochran, had been the last of the show’s three stars still living.
Dec. 11, 2024, 12:21 a.m. ET
Michael Cole, the actor best known as Pete Cochran, the last of three actors who played hip, young undercover police officers on ABC’s hit show “The Mod Squad,” died on Tuesday. He was 84.
A cause of death was not given. His death was confirmed by Christy Clark of the Stewart Talent Agency, which represented Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole was a young, struggling actor when he achieved overnight success on the police crime drama “The Mod Squad,” which ran on ABC from 1968 to 1973 and co-starred Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III.
“The Mod Squad” was one of the first prime-time series to acknowledge the hippie counterculture and an early example of multiracial casting. It centered on three hippies in trouble with the law, who avoid jail time by joining the police department and working undercover. Mr. Cole was cast as Pete Cochran, a wealthy kid who was kicked out of his parents’ house for stealing a car. Mr. Williams played Linc Hayes, and Ms. Lipton played Julie Barnes.
The trio gave the show one of its taglines: “One black, one white, one blonde.”
The show became a runaway hit, tackling racism, abortion, the Vietnam War and drug abuse. It launched Mr. Cole, whose Hollywood résumé was thin, to fame.
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