Michael Cole, the star who portrayed Pete Cochran in “The Mod Squad,” has died, Fox News Digital confirmed. He was 84.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cole died at the Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center on Tuesday. A cause of death has not been provided.
A representative for Cole told Variety he died “peacefully this morning, surrounded by loved ones, after living a full and vibrant life.”
Cole is best known for his role as one of three young detectives on ABC’s “The Mod Squad” from 1968 to 1973. The series also starred Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III.
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The actor was born July 3, 1940, and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cole never knew his father. Cole, his older brother and his mother lived in his grandmother’s home during his early years.
According to the outlet, Cole began drinking when he was 12 and was familiar with getting into trouble. At 16, he dropped out of high school and married his girlfriend, who was pregnant with their first child. The former couple had two children, Candi and Jeff, before getting a divorce.
Cole left Wisconsin and moved to Las Vegas, where he met Bobby Darin, a singer and actor at the time. Cole then moved to Los Angeles and lived below a freeway, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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He then met an acting coach, Estelle Harman, who had a major impact on his life. Cole said in 2018 that Harman “recognized what was in there before I did.” She gave him free acting lessons and allowed him to sleep on the bed on the stage of her workshop, the outlet reported.
It wasn’t until several years later that producer Aaron Spelling reached out to Cole to offer him a role in “The Mod Squad.”
Cole detailed this encounter in his book, “I Played The White Guy,” released in 2018.
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“I resisted taking the part when Spelling offered it, telling him, ‘[The show] sounds stupid, and I hope it never gets on the air,'” Cole wrote in his book, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I didn’t want to play some guy who ratted on some other troubled kids.”
“The Mod Squad” aired for 123 episodes over five seasons. During his time on the show, Cole was involved in a serious car wreck that sent him flying through his windshield. He needed 130 stitches, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Cole is survived by his third wife, Shelley Funes.
