Jon Cypher, the veteran actor best known for playing Chief Fletcher Daniels on the hit 1980s police drama Hill Street Blues, has died. He was 94.
Cypher died Aug. 3 at his home in Central Point, Oregon, according to his family per Deadline. His wife of 40 years, Carol Rosin, was by his side when he died. A cause of death was not announced.
Cypher appeared in dozens of movies and television shows during a career that lasted nearly 50 years. He played Chief Daniels in numerous episodes of Hill Street Blues, the groundbreaking police drama that ran from 1981 to 1987.
He was also known for playing Duncan, a close ally of He-Man, in the 1987 fantasy movie Masters of the Universe. Cypher later had a regular role on the CBS sitcom Major Dad.
Cypher was born on January 13, 1932, in New York City. He developed an interest in acting while he was young and went on to study theater. Before becoming a television regular, Cypher built his skills as a stage performer, eventually working on Broadway and other major theatrical productions.
One of his earliest major breaks came in 1957 when he was chosen to play Prince Christopher opposite Julie Andrews in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s television musical Cinderella. Cypher was still a relatively unknown young actor at the time. The live CBS production became a huge television event, drawing more than 100 million viewers.
Cypher and Andrews performed several songs together, including “Ten Minutes Ago” and “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?” The role gave Cypher national exposure early in his career and remained an important part of his acting history.
Over the following decades, Cypher became a dependable character actor who could move easily between drama and comedy.
He is perhaps best remembered by television viewers for playing Chief Fletcher Daniels on NBC’s Hill Street Blues. The acclaimed series, which premiered in 1981, helped change the way police dramas were made by combining crime stories with the complicated personal lives of officers and other characters.
Cypher’s Daniels was an ambitious police chief who often found himself at odds with the officers and leaders working beneath him. The recurring role made Cypher part of one of the most influential television dramas of the 1980s.
A younger generation of viewers may remember him from the 1987 fantasy adventure Masters of the Universe. Cypher played Duncan, also known as Man-at-Arms, an important friend and ally of He-Man. The movie was based on the hugely popular Mattel franchise and starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man.
Cypher later took on a very different television role in the CBS sitcom Major Dad. He played General Marcus C. Craig, appearing alongside Gerald McRaney. The military comedy ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993 and gave Cypher another recognizable role on network television.
His long list of television appearances extended well beyond those three projects. Throughout his career, he appeared in numerous dramas, comedies, soap operas and other television programs, establishing himself as the kind of character actor audiences might recognize even if they did not immediately know his name.
Cypher also maintained strong ties to the theater. His early success in Cinderella demonstrated that he could sing as well as act, and his stage background remained an important part of his career.
His appearance in the original Cinderella became particularly historic. The production was created specifically for television by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and aired live on CBS on March 31, 1957. Cypher was only about 25 years old when he played the prince. Playbill later described him as a then-unknown performer chosen in part because he had the presence, voice and height needed for the role opposite Andrews.
