THE actor Michael Cole, who was the last surviving member of the hit show The Mod Squad, has died at 84.
Cole’s career spanned decades, and he also appeared in hit shows such as General Hospital and Murder She Wrote.
He died at the Providence Centers-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, his publicist told The Hollywood Reporter.
Cole, from Wisconsin, starred as one of the undercover cops on The Mod Squad, where he played Pete Cochran.
He appeared on 123 episodes of the show between 1968 and 1973, according to his IMDB.
During his run on the Mod Squad, Cole was caught up in a car accident and needed 130 stitches on his face.
Cole also appeared in the 1979 movie The Return of the Mod Squad.
He was the last surviving member of the crime series.
Co-star Peggy Lipton, who played Julie Barnes, died in 2019, and Clarence Williams III’s death came two years later.
Tributes have been paid to Cole following his death.
“Cole’s talent, combined with his magnetic presence, made him a defining figure of the era,” his representatives said.
They hailed his storytelling ability.
“A storyteller at heart, he had a way of making those around him feel special, often regaling them with anecdotes from his Hollywood days or sharing wisdom from his remarkable journey.”
Mod Squad fans have also paid their own tributes to Cole.
“I remember when that show premiered in the 60s, we kids thought it was the coolest,” one said.
Fans also reminisced about how Cole, Lipton, and Williams worked seamlessly together on the show.
Cole appeared on two episodes of Murder, She Wrote between 1987 and 1990 and more than sixty episodes of General Hospital in 1991.
He played Harlan Barrett in the ABC soap opera, which first aired in 1963.
Cole played Charles Hadley in a 2006 episode of the medical series ER.
The actor didn’t just appear in popular TV series; he also starred in movies.
Cole starred in the 1971 movie The Last Child and the 2007 blockbuster Mr Brooks, which also featured Kevin Costner and Demi Moore.
In 2009, he released the memoir titled I Played The White Guy.
The book focused on his own career and experiences in Hollywood.
Cole is survived by his wife and children.
