Kevin Dobson

At his best playing blue-collared tough guys, the handsome, curly dark-haired, Irish-American actor Kevin (Patrick) Dobson was born in Queens, New York, on March 18, 1943, and raised in housing projects of the Jackson Heights area. One of seven children born to a school janitor, the actor first worked as a trainman, brakeman and conductor for the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road), but eventually decided to pursue his acting interests.

He would also be the fourth actor taking over the role of Mickey Horton on Days of Our Lives (1965).

"Into the millennium, Dobson returned full circle to his daytime soap opera roots with roles as Governor Harrison Brooks on One Life to Live (1968) and Judge Devin Owens on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987).

Toiling as a waiter/bartender at a restaurant owned by relatives, Dobson's first on-camera viewings began in 1969 on a daytime soap opera, playing various bit parts as cops, orderlies and intern types on The Doctors (1963).

In the early 1970's he was spotted here and there on such popular crime shows as "The Mod Squad," "The Rookies," "Ironside," "Cannon" and "Police Story. " This led to his pivotal role as young, eager Det. Bobby Crocker, part of the trusted squad of the bald, lollipop-licking Lt.

Following an unbilled bit in the detective film Klute (1971), he gravitated more and more towards TV.

Had signed a contract with Universal Studios in 1972.

Theo Kojak (series star Telly Savalas on the hit CBS police drama Kojak (1973). Earning a now familiar TV name for himself, Dobson stayed with the series throughout its five seasons.

A revolving series of starring roles in TV movies came Kevin's way following the demise of Kojak (1973), including Transplant (1979) starring as a workaholic exec risking a major heart operation; Orphan Train (1979) with Jill Eikenberry as a couple involved in the titled NYC movement and welfare program in the 1850's; Hardhat and Legs (1980), a Gordon/Kanin romantic comedy co-starring Sharon Gless; Reunion (1980), a sudsy drama essaying the part of a married man tempted at a high school reunion; Mark, I Love You (1980), another sudsy drama as a widower having to fight his late wife's parents for child custody; and Margin for Murder (1981), a Mike Hammer noirish mystery.

In between, he found a featured role in the film Midway (1976) and earned a top-billed role in the TV movie Stranded (1976) as one of a group of airplane passengers who survives a crash and marooned on a deserted island.

Received a phone call from the producers of Knots Landing (1979) about playing the role of a district attorney. At first, he was very unhappy about it, but then he liked it, and stood with his character for more than a decade.

Kevin found another crimes series in the early 1980's to star in as the title San Francisco police officer in the short-lived Shannon (1981), which was immediately followed by a second best-remembered series, as federal prosecutor Mack McKenzie, who marries Michele Lee's Karen Fairgate, on the popular night-time soap opera Knots Landing (1979). Dobson copped five Soap Opera Digest Awards for his work on this series. In between the eleven seasons was a reunion Kojak TV movie as (now) Asst. D. A.

He was also unsympathetically featured as Barbra Streisand's abusive husband in the romantic dramedy All Night Long (1981).

(1989), A House of Secrets and Lies (1992) and The Conviction of Kitty Dodds (1993), as well as another detective role in the first season of F/X: The Series (1996)Dobson began his career on stage, first with the 1968 national tour of "The Impossible Years. " Dobson later served on the board of Lonny Chapman's Group Repertory Theatre company in North Hollywood, where he often directed and acted.

Bobby Crocker in Kojak: It's Always Something (1990); plus other mini-movie leads in Money, Power, Murder.

Dobson's acting mentor, good friend, and former series' lead Telly Savalas, died on January 22, 1994, at age 72. (Savalas celebrated his 72nd birthday on January 21, 1994, with friends and family, and passed away, the following day.) Dobson was also good friends with Savalas's children.

Live theatre highlights include Chicago's Royal George Theatre production of the Tony Award-winning play "Art," as well as originating the role of Steve Gallop in the world premiere mounting of the 2000 play "If It was Easy" in Atlanta.

Parts in independent films also came to be with leads in the thriller She's No Angel (2002) opposite Tracey Gold and the mystery drama The Representative (2011), plus featured roles in Crash Landing (2005), 1408 (2007), April Moon (2007) and Dark Power (2013). Kevin also guested on such popular TV programs as "Nash Bridges," "Cold Case," "CSI," "Hawaii Five-0" and "Anger Management. "A former Army soldier (MP), Dobson served twice as chairman of the National Salute To Hospitalized Veterans.

In January 2008, he played Juror 10 in a stage production of "12 Angry Men" in Toronto, Ontario.

He also co-starred with Richard Thomas in Roundabout Theatre Company's 2009 national tour of "12 Angry Men.