Taurean Blacque, beloved for his role as Detective Neil Washington in “Hill Street Blues,” has died. He was 82 years old.
Blacque died Thursday according to him Share Rodney’s son on Facebook. He died in Atlanta shortly after falling ill, according to reports.
Throughout the seven seasons of the popular NBC cop show, Blacque starred alongside Michael Warren, Daniel J. Travante, Charles Hyde, Michael Conrad, and Bruce Weitz in “Hill Street Blues.” The show ran from 1981-1987 and earned Blacque a nomination for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1982. In fact, the category that year was owned by “Hill Street Blues,” which saw all five nominees coming from the show. by Stephen Bochko and Michael Kozol. The other four nominees are Warren, Hyde, Conrad and Weitz.
Detective Neil Washington’s character Blacque was a respectable but stern cop, a veteran known through his trademark toothpicks and hat. Blacque was one of 10 regulars on the show who remained on the series throughout its run.
Actor Herbert Middleton Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey, on May 10, 1940. He got his start in the mid-1970s at New York-based Negro Ensemble, where he gained stature as a stage actor. Soon, Blacque got guest roles in TV series such as “Sanford and Son”, “Good Times”, “What Happening”, “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Taxi”. He also played another cop in 1996 for two seasons in “Savannah”.
Blacque, who changed his name from his birth name due to his astrological sign (Taurus) and race, continued to star in television, including from 1989 to 1990 as Henry Marshall on the NBC series “Generations.” After becoming a long-time resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Blacque performed in several productions at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. Among the notable performances he performed were in James Baldwin’s play “Amen’s Corner” opposite Carol Mitchell Lyon, Elizabeth O’Millame and Crystal Fox.
Blacque is survived by 12 children, many of whom he adopted, 18 grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
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