Charles Dierkop

Charles Richard Dierkop (September 11, 1936 – February 25, 2024) was an American character actor and Broadway performer, born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Raised by an aunt and uncle after his father's departure in infancy and his mother's early absence, Dierkop attended Holy Trinity Grade School and Aquinas High School in La Crosse. He left school before completing his junior year and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at age 17, serving in Korea during the Korean War before receiving his discharge at age 19.

Following his military service, Dierkop settled in Philadelphia with his mother and used the G.I. Bill to enroll in the American Foundation of Dramatic Arts in Philadelphia. His first professional acting credit came on the television series Naked City, and he went on to become a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. In 1962, he made his Broadway appearance in General Seeger.

Dierkop became widely recognized for his work in two films directed by George Roy Hill, playing an outlaw in each. In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), he portrayed "Flat Nose Curry," a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang. In The Sting (1973), he played "Floyd," a bodyguard alongside Lee Paul serving Robert Shaw's character, the gangster Doyle Lonnegan. His most sustained television role was Detective Pete Royster on Police Woman, a part he held from 1974 to 1978. He also appears briefly in R.E.M.'s music video for "Man on the Moon."

Dierkop was married to Joan Addis from 1958 to 1974, and they had a daughter, Lynn, and a son. At age 39, after mentioning in a Milwaukee newspaper interview that he wished to meet his father, a cousin arranged a reunion with the man, who was living on Chicago's skid row at the time. Dierkop died on February 25, 2024, at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Los Angeles from complications of pneumonia and a heart attack, at the age of 87.