Robert Culp, who starred in I Spy, the first integrated series to feature a black actor in a starring role, has died at the age of 79 after collapsing on the sidewalk outside his Hollywood home.
Although I Spy helped turn popular stand-up comic Bill Cosby into an internationally known superstar, the groundbreaking series – the first to combine humor and adventure in what eventually came to be known as dramedy and the first integrated series to star black and white actors with equal billing [and screen time] – it would never have worked without Robert Culp. Cosby played spy Kelly Robinson cover was an international tennis star, while Cosby played Alexander Scott, whose cover was as Robinson’s trainer.
Culp’s well-honed dramatic chops combined with Cosby’s looser, comedic timing to create a team unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. Their chemistry was exceptional and they fit together perfectly from the series premiere.
Although I Spy was an historic series in more ways than one, Culp may have been even better known for his role as the easily exasperated, by-the-book FBI Special Agent Bill Maxwell on Greatest American Hero – which is still regarded by many as the best TV superhero series ever made. Again, he was part of a team – Ralph Hinckley [William Katt], a special ed teacher who got to wear the famous red suit, and Ralph’s fiancée [and later, wife], an ambitious lawyer named Pam Davidson [Connie Selleca] – and, again, he unique and indispensable chemistry with his fellow leads created an experience that no one had encountered before.
Other fine moments in his career include: Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman in Trackdown [where I first became aware of him]; villains on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Columbo; three episodes of the original Outer Limits [including the Harlan Ellison classic, Demon with a Glass Hand]; wife-swapping comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; the lead in Gene Roddenberry’s Spectre, a highly regarded TV-movie that never went to series; voiceover work for Gargoyles, and eleven episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond [as Warren, Raymond’s father-in-law].
He reprised his Kelly Robinson character in TV-movie I Spy Returns and the My Spy episode of Cosby, and Bill Maxwell for an early ep of Robot Chicken. He was a three-time Emmy nominee and a Golden Globe nominee for I Spy.
One of those rare character actors who got to star in three popular TV series, Culp has been one of my favorite actors since his Trackdown days [1957-1959]. His ability to play lead and supporting roles with equal facility always held my attention. I’m off, now, to screen the Greatest American Hero pilot in his honor.