Michael Conrad

Michael Conrad (October 16, 1925 – November 22, 1983) was an American actor whose career spanned Broadway, film, and television across four decades. He is perhaps best known for playing Sgt. Philip Freemason Esterhaus on the police drama Hill Street Blues, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, in 1981 and 1982.

Conrad served in the United States Army during World War II. His Broadway career ran from 1944 to 1955 and included the musical Follow the Girls and the play The Lark. Following his stage work, he built an extensive television résumé beginning in the 1950s. Early television appearances included an uncredited role as a construction worker in Car 54, Where Are You? in 1962, and a credited part as Felton Grimes, the title character and murder victim, in the 1963 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Bigamous Spouse." In 1965 he appeared in My Favorite Martian as a villain named AC in the episode "Martin's Revoltin' Development," and played Paul in a first-season episode of The F.B.I. titled "The Man Who Went Mad by Mistake."

Conrad's film work during the 1960s and 1970s was substantial. His screen credits include The War Lord (1965), Blackbeard's Ghost (1968), Castle Keep (1969), and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), a film set during a Depression-era dance marathon in which he had a notable supporting part. Additional film appearances came in Monte Walsh (1970), The Todd Killings (1971), Thumb Tripping (1972), and Scream Blacula Scream (1973). In 1972 he appeared alongside Richard Crenna and Alain Delon in the French-language film Un flic, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. That same year he played Michael Stivic's Polish-American Uncle Casimir in two episodes of All in the Family. His role in The Longest Yard (1974) cast him as Nate Scarboro, a retired NFL tight end formerly with the New York Giants who coaches the prisoner team assembled by Burt Reynolds's character Paul Crewe. Later film credits include Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976). On television, Conrad was a series regular during the 1976–77 season of Delvecchio, playing Lt. Macavan.

Conrad joined the cast of Hill Street Blues when the series premiered in 1981, playing Sgt. Esterhaus for 71 episodes until his death. He died of urethral cancer in November 1983, during the show's fourth season, and the writers incorporated his death into the series. Conrad had been married three times: to Denise McCluggage from 1953 to 1954, to Emilie Demille from October 30, 1963 to February 1967, and to Sima Goldberg from January 27, 1974 until his death on November 22, 1983.