Charles Dierkop, ‘Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid’ and ‘Police Woman’ Actor, Dies at 87
Veteran actor Charles Dierkop, best known for his roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and the 1970s television series Police Woman, has died. He was 87.
According to his daughter, Lynn, Dierkop passed away at Sherman Oaks Hospital on Sunday, February 25, after a recent heart attack and a bout with pneumonia, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Born on September 11, 1936, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Dierkop dropped out of high school to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served during the Korean War until September 1955. Following his stint in the military, Diekop studied acting in Philadelphia and at The Actors Studio in New York.
His first on-screen acting gig came in the 1960s ABC drama Naked City, where he appeared in several episodes in uncredited roles. From there, he featured in many other hit 1960s TV series, including Lost In Space, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Gunsmoke, The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, and Batman.
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On the big screen, he appeared in The Pawnbroker (1964), The Sweet Ride (1968), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Pound (1970), Angels Hard as They Come (1971), Night of the Cobra Woman (1972), The Hot Box (1972), The Sting (1973), Messiah of Evil (1973), and Messenger of Death (1988).
One of his most memorable roles came in the 1970s NBC police procedural Police Woman, where he played Detective Pete Royster alongside Angie Dickinson, Earl Holliman, and Ed Bernard.
Dierkop’s TV work continued throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, appearing in the likes of CHiPs, Fantasy Island, The Fall Guy, Simon & Simon, and MacGyver.
His acting career slowed down in later years, especially on the TV side of things. However, he’d still pop up in movies from time to time, including Too Fast Too Young (1996), Invisible Dad (1998), Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (2000), Forget Me Not (2009), and his last credited role, The Midnighters, in 2016.
Dierkop also appears briefly in the music video of “Man on the Moon,” the hit song from rock band R.E.M., which was released in 1992.
The prolific actor had two children with his ex-wife Joan Addis: a son, Charles Jr., who died in 1990 at age 29, and a daughter, Lynn.
