Dwayne Hickman, star of the popular CBS sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gills, passed away at his home in Los Angeles on Sunday. The actor, artist, and television producer suffered some complications related to Parkinson’s disease and was 87 at the time of his passing. The tragic news has been made public by Hickman’s head of PR, Harlan Boll. An actor whose career lasted for almost three decades, Hickman’s passing is surely a tragedy for the film and TV industry.
Dwayne Hickman was born on May 18, 1934, in Los Angeles, California. His career as an actor took off at a pretty young age, following in the footsteps of his elder brother Darryl Hickman. His screen acting trajectory began with appearances in The Boy With the Green Hair, and The Grapes of Wrath in the ’40s. He also appeared in minor roles in Captain Eddie, The Secret Heart, Mighty Joe Young, and The Happy Years, in most of which he appeared opposite his brother Darryl.
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As a teenager, he starred as Chuck MacDonald in The Bob Cummings Show alongside the iconic comedian during the four-year run of the sitcom. However, perhaps his biggest break was in the late ’50s to ’60s Fox sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gills, where he starred in the role of Dobie, a high schooler who aspired to popularity, success, and the attention of beautiful girls, in all 148 episodes of the show’s four-year run from 1959 to 1963.
The Many Loves of Dobie Gills was the first major sitcom to feature a story revolving around teenagers, and the eponymous character understandably became a cultural icon during the ’50s and ’60s.
Hickman soon returned to film after attaining a degree in economics from Loyola University. His career resumed with films like Ski Party, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, where he starred alongside Annette Funicello, and Cat Ballou, where he starred alongside Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, and others.
His journey with CBS resumed in the 1970s when he became a network executive at CBS Television. During his time there, he supervised shows like Maude, MAS*H, and Designing Women. He also directed various episodes of different half-hour comedies. Towards the end of his tenure at CBS, he starred and produced in Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis, a 1988 reunion feature for his iconic sitcom that aired on CBS.
Hickman was also immensely talented with the brush and painted various house and landscape series in oils. He is survived by his wife Joan Roberts, with whom he authored his biography “Forever Dobie: The Many Lives of Dwayne Hickman,” and his sons Albert and John Hickman.
