Photo credits: Ron Tom for NBC/Getty Images
The Emmy-nominated actor Taurean Blacque passed away on July 21, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia, after suddenly falling ill.
He was best remembered for playing the perpetually besotted Detective Neal Washington on NBC’s groundbreaking 1980s smash police drama Hill Street Blues. He was 82. His relatives informed Deadline News of his passing.
Blacque, a Newark, New Jersey native, was born Herbert Middleton Jr. He started his career in show business with New York’s renowned and powerful Negro Ensemble Company. Then Blacque quickly got guest spots on shows like Sanford and Son, What’s Happening, Good Times, The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, and more.
He joined the cast of the brand-new Hill Street Blues on NBC in 1981, and the following year he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He stuck with the well-liked police procedural show all the way until 1987.
Detective Neal Washington, played by Blacque, was a respected, street-smart, no-nonsense veteran officer easily recognized by his ubiquitous toothpick and hat. He was teamed with drunken Detective J.D. LaRue (Kiel Martin), who had a distinct perspective on police work.
This work occasionally crossed over or straddled the borders of police regulation.
Washington’s tolerance of LaRue’s pranks, particularly his numerous financial scams, was frequently put to the test, but he remained fiercely devoted to his flawed companion. One of the ten regular contributors who remained on Hill Street Blues for all seven seasons was Blacque.
Blacque not only raised his two biological boys but also eleven adoptive children.
After serving as the County of Los Angeles’s spokeswoman, he was invited by President George H.W. Bush to represent adoption on a national level in 1989. Blacque’s son had already passed away. Twelve children, eighteen grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren still live.
Funeral services were not instantly covered in any new sets of information.
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