Bernie Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Bernie Hamilton was an American
actor
.
Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles
and attended Oakland Technical High School
, where he first became interested in acting. In films from 1950, he laboured in bit
roles for years before getting noticed in the film One Potato, Two Potato (1964), the story of an inter-racial marriage
. He is best remembered for his role as the brusque, no-nonsense Captain Dobey in the United States
1970s police series Starsky and Hutch
. Hamilton was the brother of jazz drummer Chico Hamilton
. Hamilton was also an impresario; since the late 1960s he had run a nightclub/art gallery called Citadel d’Haiti on Sunset Boulevard
. Hamilton also produced Rhythm and blues
and gospel music
recordings on his own record label called Chocolate Snowman. One of his releases featured himself, it was entitled Captain Dobey Sings the Blues.
Hamilton died of cardiac arrest
on December 30, 2008, aged 80.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles (region)
East Los Angeles is the portion of the City of Los Angeles that lies east of Downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River and the unincorporated areas of Lincoln Heights, west of the San Gabriel Valley, East Los Angeles and City Terrace, south of Cypress Park, and north of Vernon, California and...
and attended Oakland Technical High School
Oakland Technical High School
Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech, or just simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District.-Background:...
, where he first became interested in acting. In films from 1950, he laboured in bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
roles for years before getting noticed in the film One Potato, Two Potato (1964), the story of an inter-racial marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
. He is best remembered for his role as the brusque, no-nonsense Captain Dobey in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
1970s police series Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
. Hamilton was the brother of jazz drummer Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton , is an American jazz drummer and bandleader.-Early life through 1960s:Hamilton was born in Los Angeles, California. He had a fast-track musical education in a band with Charles Mingus, Illinois Jacquet, Ernie Royal, Dexter Gordon, Buddy Collette and Jack Kelso...
. Hamilton was also an impresario; since the late 1960s he had run a nightclub/art gallery called Citadel d’Haiti on Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
. Hamilton also produced Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
recordings on his own record label called Chocolate Snowman. One of his releases featured himself, it was entitled Captain Dobey Sings the Blues.
Hamilton died of cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
on December 30, 2008, aged 80.
Selected filmography
- The Jackie Robinson StoryThe Jackie Robinson StoryThe Jackie Robinson Story is a 1950 biographical film starring baseball legend Jackie Robinson as himself. The film focuses on Robinson's struggle with the abuse of racist bigots as he becomes the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era...
(1950) - Carmen JonesCarmen Jones (film)Carmen Jones is a 1954 American musical film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Harry Kleiner is based on the libretto for the 1943 stage production of the same name by Oscar Hammerstein II, which was inspired by an adaptation of the 1845 Prosper Mérimée novella Carmen by...
(1954) - KismetKismet (1955 film)Kismet is an American musical film in Cinemascope and Eastman Color released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the fourth movie version of Kismet—the first was released in 1920 and the second in 1930 by Warner Brothers—and the second released by MGM...
(1955) - Congo CrossingCongo CrossingCongo Crossing is a 1956 adventure film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Virginia Mayo and George Nader. Most of the exterior sequences were shot in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.-Plot synopsis:...
(1956) - The Young OneThe Young OneLa joven is a 1960 film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel. Produced in Mexico and shot in English with American actors, La Joven is Buñuel's second and last American film...
(1960) directed by Luis BuñuelLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:... - The Devil at 4 O'ClockThe Devil at 4 O'ClockThe Devil at 4 O'Clock is a 1961 disaster film with elevated themes, starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Based upon an eponymous novel by Max Catto, film was a precursor to the disaster movies of the 1970s, such as The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, and The...
(1961) - 13 West Street (1962)
- One Potato, Two Potato (1964)
- SynanonSynanon (film)Synanon is a 1965 film directed by Richard Quine. It stars Edmond O'Brien and Chuck Connors. It was filmed at Synanon in Santa Monica, California.-Cast:*Edmond O'Brien as Chuck Dederich*Chuck Connors as Ben*Stella Stevens as Joaney...
(1965) - The SwimmerThe Swimmer (film)The Swimmer is a 1968 American film directed by Frank Perry and starring Burt Lancaster. The surreal, allegorical tale is based on the 1964 short story by John Cheever, adapted by Eleanor Perry, the director's wife...
(1968) - The OrganizationThe Organization (film)The Organization is a 1971 film starring Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs. It was the last of the trilogy featuring the police detective Tibbs that had begun with In the Heat of the Night . In it Tibbs is called in to hunt down a gang of urban revolutionaries, suspected of a series of crimes...
(1971) - HammerHammer (film)Hammer is a 1972 blaxploitation film directed by Bruce Clark. The film was released following the successes of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Shaft, notable 1971 films that popularized black cinema....
(1972) - Scream Blacula ScreamScream Blacula ScreamScream Blacula Scream is a 1973 blaxploitation horror film, made under the working titles Blacula Is Beautiful and Blacula Lives Again!. This is the only sequel to the 1972 film Blacula...
(1973) - Bucktown (1975)