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Robert Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) who starred alongside Bill Cosby in the racially revolutionary television series “I Spy” and famous for his role in the sex comedy “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” has died Wednesday aged 79.

According to his manager Hillard Elkins, Culp collapsed outside his Hollywood home and was rushed to a hospital and declared dead. It is said to be died of heart attack and according to L.A. police Lt. Robert Binder no foul play was suspected.

The television series “I Spy” broadcasted from 1965 to 1968 was a television landmark, with a combination of humor and adventure and the first show on television to star a black actor in the main role.

After “I Spy” Culp starred in the sexual comedy “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” with starring roles in “The Castaway Cowboy”, “Turk 182!”, “Golden Girl” or “Big Bad Mama II”.

Culp and Cosby teamed up again in the movie “Hickey and Boggs” (1972), movie that was also directed by Culp and was a box office failure.

After years of discussions, Cosby and Culp reunited in 1994 for the movie “I Spy Returns”. Recently, he appeared in the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond” and in television shows including “Chicago Hope”, “Robot Chicken” or an episode of “Cosby”.

Robert Martin Culp was born in 1930 in Oakland, California, attended College of the Pacific in Stockton, California and University of Washington School of Drama. At age 21, he moved to New York and started to be cast in off-Broadway plays, including “He Who Gets Slapped”. His performances were well reviewed and even received an Obi Award, and started to get offers from Hollywood.

Along his life, Culp was married no less than five times with Nancy Ashe, Elayne Wilner, France Nuyen, Sheila Sullivan and Candace Culp.

R.I.P.

George Timothy Clooney (born on May 6, 1961) is an American actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter. Clooney was named a Messenger of Peace in January 31, 2008 by the United Nations.

Clooney was born in Lexington Kentucky and attended Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, St. Michael’s School in Columbus and St. Susanna School in Mason, Ohio. As his parents moved to Augusta, Kentucky, Clooney attended Augusta High School where he was a passionate baseball and basketball player. He tried to play professional baseball with the Cincinnati Reds in 1977 but no contract was offered to him. From 1979 to 1981 Clooney attended Northern Kentucky University and briefly the University of Cincinnati without graduating from either. He worked selling men’s suits and cutting tobacco.

Clooney got his first important role in 1984 in the sitcom E/R, and played as a handyman on the series The Facts of Life and a detective on an episode of The Golden Girls. Fame came along when he was cast as Dr. Doug Ross on the hit drama ER between 1994 and 1999. He returned to the series with a guest appearance in the show’s 15th and last final season.

Clooney debuted in movies during ER, with his first significant Hollywood role in From Dusk till Dawn, followed by One Fine Day and The Peacemaker. He then starred in Batman & Robin as the new Batman, a modest box office hit and a critical disappointment. In 1998, Clooney appeared in Out of Sight and in the Three Kings while he was at the end of his contract with ER. He quit ER in 1999 for his film career, making a cameo return in the 6th and the 15th (final) season of the series.

After ER, Clooney appeared in several Hollywood hit movies, such as The Perfect Storm or O Brother, Where Art Thou? In 2001, Clooney starred on Ocean’s Eleven which is currently his most successful movie, with earning over $444 million worldwide. It was followed by two sequels with Clooney, Ocean’s Twelve – 2004 and Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007. In 2001, along with Steven Soderbergh, he founded the Section Eight production studio.

Clooney debuted as a film director with the film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which was not a box office hit but it was well received by the critics.
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