Ron thompson dies: actor in ‘baretta’ and ralph bakshi’s ‘american pop’ was 83

Ron Thompson, a veteran character actor best known for his role in Ralph Bakshi’s rotoscope film _American Pop_ and his 1970s TV series portrayal of Detective Nopke in _Baretta_, died

Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 83. No cause was given by his friend Professor Rel Dowdell of Hampton University, who confirmed the death. Thompson had a brief career as a rock singer in the

1960s and wrote and recorded a number of singles as Ronnie Thompson. He also originated the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Pulitzer Prize winning play _No Place to Be Somebody _by Charles

Gordone. He also won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his 1973 lead performance in the play _Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?_ Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1941, Ron, his older

brother, and parents moved to Miami, Florida in ’45. Ron began to show talents as a singer/performer at an early age, which led to him performing in kiddie shows. In his early teens, he saw

Marlon Brando in _On the Waterfront._ With only $200, he set out for New York. RELATED: ROBERT BLAKE DIES: ACTOR IN ‘BARETTA’ AND ‘IN COLD BLOOD’ WAS 89, BEAT REAL-LIFE MURDER RAP Two years

later, he was acting opposite Robert Duvall on the live TV drama, _Armstrong Circle Theater_. At the same time, he had begun a singing career and had a record out. Over the next two years,

he had two records released, but neither were hits. In ’72, he joined the cast of the Henry Fonda revival, _The Time of Your Life_. By then, he had moved to L.A. In the next 25 years, he

could be seen guesting on numerous television shows. “Mr. Ron Thompson was a very versatile and talented character actor in all genres,” said Dowdell, director of film studies at Hampton

University, “as well as a true and diligent student of the comprehensive craft of acting and all of its nuances. He was a very congenial man with a warm and giving spirit, and was

well-respected by many luminaries in the film and television industries.” Thompson was married to actress Diane Sommerfield, who died in 2001. DEADLINE RELATED VIDEO: