Kevin Dobson

Kevin Patrick Dobson (March 18, 1943 – September 6, 2020) was an American actor whose career spanned stage, film, and television over several decades. Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, he was one of seven children raised by a grammar school janitor and a stay-at-home mother. Of Irish descent, Dobson attended Our Lady of Fatima school in Jackson Heights before entering the workforce. Prior to acting, he held positions as a trainman, brakeman, and conductor with the Long Island Rail Road, and later worked as a waiter.

Dobson's Broadway career ran from 1967 to 2006 and included appearances in Twelve Angry Men and The Impossible Years. His stage work extended beyond Broadway to productions across the United States, among them the Tony Award-winning play Art at the Royal George Theater in Chicago. He originated the role of Steve Gallop in the world premiere of the American Theatre Critics Association-nominated play If it was Easy... at The 7Stages Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2009, he appeared alongside Richard Thomas in a stage production of 12 Angry Men.

His screen career began with a brief appearance in the 1971 film Klute, followed by small television roles on The Mod Squad, Emergency!, and Cannon. After signing a contract with Universal Studios in 1972, Dobson landed the role of Detective Bobby Crocker in the CBS crime drama Kojak, opposite Telly Savalas, a part he secured only after a third audition arranged through his agent. He credited his prior military service as a police officer in the Army with helping him convincingly portray the role. Dobson remained with Kojak for its full five-season run from 1973 to 1978, and later reprised the character — by then an assistant district attorney — in the 1990 television movie Kojak: It's Always Something. He and Savalas maintained a close friendship until Savalas's death in 1994.

Among his film credits, Dobson appeared in the 1976 World War II film Midway alongside Henry Fonda and Charlton Heston, portraying Ensign George Gay, a pilot and the sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron Eight during the USS Hornet's attack against the Japanese fleet on June 4, 1942. In 1978, he played Pete Lomas in the two-part television movie The Immigrants, based on Howard Fast's novel. He appeared opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1981 romantic comedy All Night Long as her husband Bobby Gibbons, and took a small role as a priest in the 2007 psychological horror film 1408.

In 1981, Dobson starred as Detective Jack Shannon, a single-father San Francisco police officer, in the CBS series Shannon, which was cancelled after nine episodes. A more enduring television role followed in 1982 when he joined the prime-time soap opera Knots Landing as M. Patrick "Mack" MacKenzie, opposite Michele Lee, entering at the start of the show's fourth season and remaining until its cancellation in 1993. He won five Soap Opera Digest Awards for the role. Dobson later reunited with his Knots Landing cast members for the 1997 miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac and the 2005 special Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again. His subsequent television work included one season of the syndicated F/X: The Series (1996–1997), a 2003 appearance on One Life to Live, and recurring roles on The Bold and the Beautiful (2006–2007). Beginning April 1, 2008, he appeared in 15 episodes of the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives as Mickey Horton, becoming the fourth and final actor to portray the original character.

A veteran of the U.S. Army, where he served as a military policeman, Dobson was active in veterans' causes throughout his life. He served twice as chairman of the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans and chaired the United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County. He received both the AMVETS Silver Helmet Peace Award and the American Legion Award, and held life membership in AMVETS as well as charter membership in AMVETS MOH Richard A. Pittman Post #1947 in Stockton, California.

Dobson married Susan in 1968, and they had three children: Mariah, Patrick, and Sean. He died on September 6, 2020, at a hospital in Stockton, California, following a struggle with an autoimmune deficiency. He was 77 years old.