A MUCH-LOVED ACTOR best known for her role in the acclaimed NBC police drama Hill Street Blues has died.
Barbara Bosson, who received Emmy nominations for her role as divorcee Fay Furillo five years in a row, died on Saturday, according to her family. She was 83 years old.
At this time, the cause of her death is unknown.
Bosson appeared in the NBC drama created by her husband, Steven Bochco.
Throughout her career, she worked on three ABC drama series: Hooperman from 1987 to 1989, Cop Rock in 1990, and Murder One from 1995 to 1997.
These shows were also created by her late husband, who died of cancer in 2018.
They met in the 1960s at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and married in 1970.
They had some success on television, but they really hit their stride during the first five seasons of MTM Productions’ Hill Street Blues from 1981 to 1985.
Bosson discussed her character Fay, saying that she played a critical role in giving the emotionally needy ex-wife depth.
The character nagged main character Captain Frank Furillo about child care, alimony, and their troubled son Frank Junior on a regular basis.
“The whole time I played Fay I agitated with Steve to make Fay something besides a whining kvetch,” she told United Press International in 1985.
“It took two years to convince him Fay should be a victim’s advocate. She was a victim herself.”
She played the character for five seasons before her husband was fired for refusing to cut costs and shorten his storylines.
The actress began filming for Season 6 but later decided to leave.
Bosson’s career, which relied heavily on her husband’s influence, sparked debate among critics who claimed her relationship was the sole reason she got her roles.
She insisted, however, that they tried to keep their work separate, and that her decision to leave Hill Street Blues was primarily motivated by the mistreatment of her character.
“I’m very sad about what they’re doing with Fay. The new producers don’t like the character,” she said in a different interview in 1985.
“Before, my husband always wrote her scenes. I stayed on after he left because I wanted my career to be separate from his.
“People have always made snide remarks that I was on the show because of Steven.”
