Earl Holliman, ‘Police Woman’ Star, Dies at 96: A Tribute to His Iconic Career

Earl Holliman, a notable actor from the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 96. He was widely recognized for his role as Angie Dickinson’s boss in the NBC cop drama Police Woman.

Holliman gained acclaim for his performance in The Rainmaker (1956), winning a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) as Wyatt Earp’s assistant and appeared in Giant (1956), alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.

One of his early television roles was in the first episode of The Twilight Zone, where he played a man with amnesia. He starred in the TV series Hotel de Paree during the 1959-60 season and later led another Western series, Wide Country.

In Police Woman, Holliman played Lt. Bill Crowley, working alongside Dickinson for four seasons.

Born Henry Earl Holliman on September 11, 1928, in Delhi, Louisiana, he was placed in an orphanage shortly after birth and adopted a week later. He pursued acting from a young age, eventually moving to Hollywood after high school. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he studied at the Pasadena Playhouse and made his film debut in Scared Stiff (1953).

Throughout his career, Holliman appeared in several films, including I Died a Thousand Times (1955) and The Thorn Birds miniseries (1983). He also had roles in popular TV series such as Gunsmoke, Murder, She Wrote, and Dr. Kildare.

Holliman was active outside of acting too. He managed the Fiesta Dinner Theatre in San Antonio and supported animal population control initiatives through his role as president of Actors and Others for Animals.