Barbara Bosson, the Emmy-nominated actress best known for her role as Fay Furillo on NBC’s “Hill Street Blues,” has died, her son has confirmed. She was 83 years old.
His son, Jesse Bochco, said in a statement that Bosson “passed away peacefully on February 18, 2023, surrounded by his family and loved ones.” A cause of death was not given.
Bosson made her film debut in “Bullitt” in 1968, starring Steve McQueen, in which she had an uncredited role as a nurse. In 1970 Bosson married Steven Bochco, a screenwriter and television producer who would go on to co-create “Hill Street Blues.”
After a handful of television show appearances throughout the 1970s, Bosson landed a starring role in 1978 in the short-lived television series “Richie Brockelman, Private Eye”, also co-created by Bochco, but l he show only lasted six episodes. .
Bosson then appeared in 100 episodes of the hit police procedural “Hill Street Blues” from 1981 to 1985. She was nominated for five consecutive Emmys for her role as Furillo, the ex-wife of police captain Frank Furillo. Bosson left the show during its sixth season, a year after Bochco’s departure from the show, following disputes over his contract and the direction of his character.
“I decided to leave due to irregularities in the trade agreement,” Bosson said at the time, according to The Associated Press. “Money isn’t the issue. I found out they told my agent things that weren’t true.”
“I’m very sad about what they’re doing with Fay,” Bosson also said, according to AP. “The new producers don’t like the character. Before, my husband was always writing his scenes. I stayed after he left because I wanted my career to be separate from his. People always made sarcastic remarks about that I was on the show because of Steven.”
Bosson continued to appear on numerous television shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including “Cop Rock”, “Hooperman”, “LA Law” and “Murder One”, the latter of which earned him another Emmy nomination. Awards.
Bosson and Bochco had two children, including Jesse Bochco, who also works as a television writer and director. The couple divorced in 1997.
“Barbara Bosson is survived by her son, daughter, granddaughter and grandson,” Jesse Bocho said in a statement.