'Mod Squad' 1960s actor Michael Cole dead at 84

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Actor Michael Cole, who played Pete Cochran on the TV series "The Mod Squad," died Tuesday at 84. The show was one of the first mainstream TV shows of the era focused on the 1960s youth counterculture.

According to his spokesperson, Cole died "peacefully this morning, surrounded by loved ones, after living a full and vibrant life."

The series aired on ABC 1968-1973. Cole and co-stars Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III played three undercover cops.

In the lexicon of the time they portrayed three young "hip" cops and the show death with contemporary social issues like abortion, police brutality and other issues of interest to youthful audiences.

The show was indicative of changing cultural norms on TV at the time.

The three characters were young people who got into trouble with the law and were given an opportunity to work as undercover officers rather than going to jail.

Cole's character was a delinquent born into a wealthy Beverly Hills family. Lipton played a runaway who fled her prostitute mother's home, while the Williams character was a young Black man who had been arrested in the Los Angeles Watts riot in the 1960s.

Williams died in 2021 and Lipton in 2019.

Cole died at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center near Los Angeles.

While best known for his role in The Mod Squad, Cole's acting credits included appearances in "Gunsmoke" and the film "The Bubble" before being cast in that hit TV show.

Cole was born in Madison, Wis., July 3, 1940. He worked as a bartender in Las Vegas before taking singer Bobby Darin's advice and moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

He took classes from legendary acting coach Estelle Harman.

He was cast for The Mod Squad by producer Aaron Spelling.

Cole, Lipton and Williams did not appear in the 1979 movie based on The Mod Squad.

Following the TV series, Cole acted primarily in TV productions, including CHips, Murder She Wrote and General Hospital.