Michael Cole, who played one-third of “The Mod Squad,” has died. He was 84 years old.
The actor played Pete Cochran on the hit ABC cop show that aired from 1968 to 1973. Cole died Tuesday, his Atlanta-based talent agent, Christy Clark, confirmed to The Times.
Following a decade of civil unrest due to the Vietnam War and the mid-century civil rights movement, “The Mod Squad” made crime-fighting interesting to the younger generation's counterculture.
Peggy Lipton, left, Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III and Tige Andrews in a scene from the 1960s television series “The Mod Squad.”
(ALPHABET)
With “one black, one white, one blonde” as the show's motto, “the rabble on the wrong side of the law was now the law,” said television critic Lorraine Ali in 2018. That same year, Cole wrote a memoir that referenced his undercover cop role titled “I Played the White Man.”
Cole's nephew, who is named after him, announced his uncle's death Monday in a Facebook post. “He was my inspiration in the art of acting and helped guide me throughout my career. He taught me his passion as an artist… as a storyteller… as an actor. But first, he was my uncle…whom I loved deeply.”
Cole discussed the role in a 1999 interview with The Times.
“He was like a rebel with a cause,” he said.
Cole's Pete Cochran, Peggy Lipton's Julie Barnes and Linc Hayes, played by Clarence Williams III, were all young people in trouble with the law. Police Captain Adam Greer (Tige Andrews) worked with them to avoid jail. The trio blended into the crime scenes (and suspects) they investigated.
Cole told The Times that he stayed in touch with his co-stars Lipton and Williams, who died in 2019 and 2021, respectively. He also said he was a fan of the revival of the 1979 TV movie “The Return of the Mod Squad,” which he said captured “the bond and care” that was at the heart of the original.
One of his other notable roles was as Harlan Barrett, a 1991 heartthrob on the daytime drama “General Hospital” who was a recurring character for several months. He also appeared on the TV shows “ER,” “The Love Boat” and “Police Story,” as well as the 1990 Stephen King miniseries “It.”
Born in the blue-collar town of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1940, Cole moved to Los Angeles as a young, hungry actor in 1963, he said in a 2018 podcast interview. There, he joined an acting workshop with coach Estelle Harmon and finally got his big break with “The Mod Squad,” he said, just being himself. After divorcing twice, he met his current wife in 1989, who helped him get sober, one of his greatest accomplishments, he said.
Cole is survived by his wife, Shelley Funes, his daughter Jennifer and his sisters Deborah and Colleen, his nephew wrote. “We are forever united as a family,” the post reads. “I love you Uncle Mike.”
