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Gregory Sierra, best known for his roles as Sgt. Miguel “Chano” Amanguale on “Barney Miller” and Julio Fuentes on “Sanford and Son,” died on Jan. 4 in Laguna Woods, Calif., according to Orange County Health Dept. records. He was 83. The New York-born-and-raised actor, of Puerto Rican descent, found success in his recurring role as Fred G. Sanford’s neighbor. Sierra went on to star in movies like “The Towering Inferno,” “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” and “Vampires.”

Veteran television and film actor Ron Glass died Saturday at age 71, his agent said Saturday. Glass died of respiratory failure, Jeffrey Leavitt told NBC News. "Ron was a private, gentle and caring man," Leavitt said. "He was an absolute delight to watch on screen. Words cannot adequately express my sorrow." Any avid TV watcher of the last 35 years or so is likely familiar with Glass' face. He is perhaps best known for his Emmy-nominated role as NYPD Det. Ron Harris on the classic cop sitcom "Barney Miller," which aired from 1975 to 1982 on ABC. Glass is the...

Ron Glass, a centerpiece on the 70's sitcom "Barney Miller" has died ... according to his rep. Glass had recently battled with various illnesses, and was an active member in the L.A. Buddhist community. He passed away at his home Friday, where'd he'd been watched by a caretaker. Glass received an Emmy nomination for his role as Detective Ron Harris on the show ... he also made appearances on the original Hawaii Five-O, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Firefly and more recently on an episode of CSI in 2014. RIP

Character Abe Vigoda, whose leathery, sunken-eyed face made him ideal for playing the over-the-hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series "Barney Miller" and the doomed Mafia soldier in "The Godfather," died Tuesday at age 94. Vigoda's daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs' home in Woodland Park, New Jersey. The cause of death was old age. "This man was never sick," Fuchs said. He liked to tell the story of how he won the role of Detective Fish. An exercise enthusiast, Vigoda had just returned from a...

Legendary actor Abe Vigoda -- who starred in "The Godfather" -- died under hospice care at the age of 94 ... TMZ has learned. Abe's death had been falsely reported countless times, dating all the way back to 1982. Abe played Tessio in "The Godfather" and also "The Godfather Part II." In fact, he was still doing the voice for Tessio in 'Godfather' video games as late as 2007. His most famous role on TV was as Detective Phil Fish on the '80s sitcom "Barney Miller" ... which once worked the infamous hoax reports of Abe's death into a storyline.

Life imitating art or is it art imitating life? A conspiracy kook describing the entire N.W.O. agenda to the police who clearly thinks he’s crazy. The truth, hidden in plain sight....pretty funny

Steve Landesberg, a comic actor known for playing wry, bookish types and most widely recognized as Barney Miller’s Arthur P. Dietrich, has died of cancer, according to TMZ. He was 65. Landesberg joined the cast of Barney Miller full time in its second season, playing the highly intellectual, unflappably deadpan detective, the breadth of whose impressive knowledge on a wide variety of obscure subjects both amazes and baffles his fellow officers. Dietrich was a mainstay of the show throughout its run, even making an appearance on Fish, the spinoff starring Abe Vigoda (who is still alive).

In 1977, on the Barney Miller episode “Blizzard”—for those under 40: a cop sitcom—a man who was poking people with a sharp stick was arrested. The man wanted to bring “awareness” to people, to “wake them up” about the coming ice age. As he was being booked, he told Sgt. Dietrich, “Did you know that the polar ice cap is increasing at 46% per year?” It was the end of the world. But later it stopped snowing. The man was incredulous, beside himself. “Years of research and study, measurements and observations. Could it be all wrong?” Dietrich told him the...