The American actor James B Sikking, who has died aged 90, estimated that he had spent two-thirds of his career out of work before making a global impact as Lt Howard Hunter in the groundbreaking 1980s television police series Hill Street Blues.
The trigger-happy cop with a military mentality was the commander of an emergency action team – dubbed EATers – in the inner-city area of an unnamed location. Sikking based his portrayal on an officer he had met during army service in North Carolina.
