Actor Robert Culp, best known for his role as an international tennis
star and globe-trotting secret agent in the hit 1960s television series
"I Spy," died Wednesday morning after a fall at his Hollywood home,
authorities said.
The 79-year-old actor was rushed to Queen of Angels hospital shortly
after 11 a.m. after hitting his head while taking a walk outside his
home in the 1800 block of El Cerrito Place, said LAPD Lt. Bob Binder. He
was found by a jogger who called 911, and paramedics, patrol officers
and detectives responded to the scene.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later. A preliminary
investigation found "that his death is accidental and there appears to
be no sign of foul play," Binder said. An autopsy by the Los Angeles
County Coroner's office is pending.
Culp broke into Hollywood in the late 1950s but catapulted to fame
playing Kelly Robinson in the hourlong 1965-68 espionage series "I Spy,"
which was shot in exotic locales around the world.
Besides its popularity, the show also broke the color barrier for
dramatic television series as the first noncomedy series to star an
African American actor, Bill Cosby.
Off screen, Culp has been active in civic causes, most recently in his
efforts to oppose construction of an elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles
Zoo.
In 2007, the actor joined with real estate agent Aaron Leider in filing
a lawsuit against zoo director John Lewis and the city to stop
construction of a $42-million elephant exhibit and bar the zoo from
keeping elephants there, accusing authorities at the facility of
withholding medical care from the animals and keeping them cramped in
small places.
Last year, after temporarily halting construction on the elephant
exhibit amid a fierce debate, the city council voted to go ahead with
the project as planned.
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Damn it, another favorite and one I got to meet and hang out one day during San Diego Comic-Con... He was an interesting man to say the least and had me in stitches for most of the late morning and afternoon.. If I hear thunder this coming weekend, I know you are giving your best performance to the angels in heaven, and the thunder is their response to your horribly bad and hysterical jokes...
Rest in peace, Robert... To his family, I send many thoughts and prayers during their time of mourning, but remember, he has told you before, when he died, he wanted you all to only shed a few tears, then spend the rest of the time rejoicing and retelling the stories he told you and making others laugh as well...
