ACTOR ROBERT CULP HAS DIED AFTER COLLAPSING OUTSIDE HIS HOLLYWOOD HOME YESTERDAY. THE STAR, WHO TEAMED WITH BILL COSBY IN THE RACIALLY GROUNDBREAKING TV SERIES I SPY AND APPEARED AS ROB IN THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SEX COMEDY BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, WAS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL BUT WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD UPON ARRIVAL, HE WAS 79. HIS MANAGER, HILLARD ELKINS, SAID THE ACTOR HAD BEEN ON A WALK WHEN HE FELL. THE ACTOR'S SON WAS TOLD HE DIED OF A HEART ATTACK, ELKINS SAID, THOUGH POLICE WERE UNSURE IF THE FALL WAS MEDICALLY RELATED. LOS ANGELES POLICE LT ROBERT BINDER SAID NO FOUL PLAY WAS SUSPECTED. BINDER SAID A JOGGER FOUND CULP, WHO APPARENTLY FELL AND STRUCK HIS HEAD. CULP HAD BEEN WORKING ON WRITING SCREENPLAYS, ELKINS SAID.
I SPY, WHICH AIRED FROM 1965 TO 1968, WAS A TELEVISION MILESTONE IN MORE WAY THAN ONE. ITS COMBINATION OF HUMOR AND ADVENTURE BROKE NEW GROUND, AND IT WAS THE FIRST INTEGRATED TELEVISION SHOW TO FEATURE A BLACK ACTOR IN A STARRING ROLE. CULP PLAYED KELLY ROBINSON, A SPY WHOSE COVER WAS THAT OF AN ACE TENNIS PLAYER. IN REAL LIFE, CULP ACTUALLY WAS A TOP-NOTCH TENNIS PLAYER WHO SHOWED HIS SKILLS IN NUMEROUS CELEBRITY TOURNAMENTS. COSBY WAS FELLOW SPY ALEXANDER SCOTT, WHOSE COVER WAS THAT OF CULP'S TRAINER. THE PAIR TRAVELED THE WORLD IN THE SERVICE OF THE US GOVERNMENT. THE SERIES GREATLY ADVANCED THE CAREERS OF BOTH ACTORS. CULP ALSO HAD STARRING ROLES IN SUCH FILMS AS THE CASTAWAY COWBOY, GOLDEN GIRL, TURK 182!, AND BIG BAD MAMA II. MORE RECENTLY, HE APPEARED IN THE VIDEO FOR EMINEM'S 1999 HIT SINGLE, GUILTY CONSCIENCE. HIS TEAMING WITH COSBY, HOWEVER, WAS PROBABLY HIS BEST REMEMBERED ROLE.
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