Taurean Blacque, the Emmy-nominated actor best known for his role as the perennially behatted Detective Neal Washington on NBC’s 1980s hit police series Hill Street Blues, died today in Atlanta following a brief illness.
He was 82.His death was announced by his family.After beginning his show business career at New York’s famed and influential Negro Ensemble Company, Blacque soon landed guest roles on such TV series as Sanford and Son, What’s Happening, Good Times, The Bob Newhart Show and Taxi, to name a few.In 1981 he joined the cast of NBC’s new Hill Street Blues, earning an Emmy nomination the following year for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series.
He remained with the popular police procedural series during its entire run, through 1987.In addition to maintaining a presence on the stage – he was active in the Atlanta Black Theater Company and North Carolina’s Black Theater Festival – Blacque was an original cast member (opposite Viveca Fox) of the groundbreaking TV soap opera Generations, the first daytime serial to focus on an African American family as part of its main story line.
In addition to raising his two biological sons, Blacque adopted 11 children. He was named spokesman for The County Of Los Angeles Adoption Services, and in 1989 was asked by President George H.W.
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