US television producer and writer Steven Bochco, who created some of America's best known police drama series, has died aged 74.
Steven Bochco in 2006. Photo: AFP
Born in New York, he helped define modern TV drama through work like Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue.
His award-winning innovations included story lines spread over several hour-long programmes, ensemble casts and edgy content.
Bochco had been battling a rare form of leukaemia for several years.
The writer was nominated for 30 Emmy awards and won 10 of them. The seven series of cop show Hill Street Blues won a further 26.
The son of a painter and violin virtuoso, he grew up in Manhattan. After studying at New York University and the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he went to work for Universal Pictures as a writer and story editor on the detective series Ironside and Columbo.
From 2014 until 2016, he wrote and produced Murder in the First, a US police drama starring Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson.
As news of Bochco's death emerged, actors and industry insiders paid tribute to a man who changed their art-form forever.
Actress Debra Messing, who starred in the US sitcom Will & Grace, called him "a pioneer, a gentleman".
So sad to hear of Steven Bochco’s passing. He was a pioneer, a gentleman, and gave me my first job in prime time tv. Rest well, sir. You will be missed. #RIP
— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) April 2, 2018
Joss Whedon, creator of the cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, cited him as a major personal influence.
Absolutely one of the biggest influences on Buffy (and me) was HILL STREET BLUES. Complex,unpredictable and unfailingly humane. Steven Bochco changed television, more than once. He’s a legend. All love to his family, R.I.P., and thank you.#LetsBeSafeOutThere
— Joss Whedon (@joss) April 2, 2018
Former USA Today TV critic Robert Bianco summed up: "If this is the Golden Age of television, Steven Bochco launched it and helped sustain it. Every great modern drama owes 'Hill Street' a debt."
Bochco is survived by his third wife, Dayna Kalins, his children Melissa Bochco, Jesse Bochco and Sean Flanagan, and two grandchildren.
- BBC
