'Hill Street Blues' star Barbara Bosson passed away at 83

At the age of 83, beloved 1980s primetime star Barbara Bosson passed away. Jesse Bochco, her son, announced the news on Instagram on Sunday. The 47-year-old TV director and producer wrote in the caption: "More spirit and zest than you could shake a stick at. When she loved you, you felt it without a doubt. If she didn't, you may well have also known that too. Forever in our hearts. I love you Mama. Barbara "Babs" Bosson Bochco 1939-2023." Additionally, the caption was posted with a picture that Bosson's son had taken of her holding him as a toddler on a sunny day in the 1970s.

 

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  Furthermore, Bosson's most well-known performance was on the TV series Hill Street Blues, which her then-husband, TV powerhouse Steven Bochco, produced. She received five consecutive Emmy nominations from 1981 to 1985 for her role as Fay Furillo, the ex-wife of Hill Street Precinct Captain Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti). However, she left the show when her husband was sacked from the sitcom during the sixth season of its final year due to creative and financial differences with the show's production company MTM Enterprises. In addition, in 1996, ten years later, she received another Emmy nomination for her work as prosecutor Miriam Grasso in Murder One, another of her husband's works. Also, before their divorce in 1997 after 27 years of marriage, Bosson and her husband collaborated on several series, most notably the cop procedural-musical hybrid Cop Rock from the 1990s and the 1970s Rockford Files spin-off Richie Brockelman. They also worked together on Private Eye and the late 1980s dramedy Hooperman with John Ritter.

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Barbara Bosson was born on November 1st, 1939 in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. She was the daughter of a milkman and tennis coach John Bosson and his wife Doris. Also read: Source: Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are “still not in a good place” even as she shut down infidelity rumors [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1108"] Image credit: People.com[/caption] She told PEOPLE in 1981, shortly after Hill Street Blues won a then-record-setting eight Emmys for its second season on NBC, "I saw him suffer silently — he hated being a milkman — and that's why I was determined not to compromise." At age 3, she made the decision to become an actress, and after high school, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. Before enrolling in a theatre course at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie-Mellon) in 1965, she took on summer stock parts and worked as a Bunny for Playboy Club guests. Moreover, after her second year, the actress dropped out and moved to the West Coast, where she landed a supporting role in the 1968 crime drama Bullitt starring Steve McQueen. Additionally, Bosson married Bochco in 1970. Lastly, Jesse, Melissa (her daughter), and Bosson's two grandkids are left behind.