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Kiel Martin

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Kiel Martin
Martin, c. 1987
Born
Kiel Urban Mueller

(1944-07-26)July 26, 1944
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedDecember 28, 1990(1990-12-28) (aged 46)
Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1956–1990
Spouses
Claudia Martin
​
​
(m. 1969; div. 1971)​
Christina Montoya
​
​
(m. 1978; div. 1980)​
Joanne La Pomaroa
​
​
(m. 1982; div. 1984)​
Children1 (with Martin)

Kiel Urban Mueller (July 26, 1944 – December 28, 1990), known professionally as Kiel Martin, was an American actor best known for his role as Detective John "J. D." LaRue on the 1980s television police drama Hill Street Blues.[1]

Early years

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Martin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[2] and raised in the city of Hialeah, Florida in Miami-Dade County. He was named after the city of Kiel, Germany in honor of his family's German ancestry.[3]

A 1962 graduate of Hialeah High School, Martin considered dropping out when he reached the age of 16. To prevent this, his father arranged for him to audition for a minor role in the school's production of the musical Finian's Rainbow. Martin was instead offered the lead.[4] When he was 18, he made 90 dollars a day dubbing voices for "Mexican fairy-tale movies imported by K. Gordon Murray."[5]

Martin was a drama student at Miami-Dade Junior College, the University of Miami, and Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas,[5][6] later saying "I went to whatever college that was doing a play I wanted to be in. And I left whenever they ran out of plays. I was not a serious college-goer."[7] He briefly served in the army where he played the lead in a production of Neil Simon's Come Blow Your Horn.[7] He was discharged in 1964.[4]

Career

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Martin as White Folks in Trick Baby
Martin as J. D. LaRue on Hill Street Blues
Martin as Charles Russell on Second Chance

Martin's debut as a professional actor came in repertory theatre in Florida.[2] After an attempt at stand-up comedy in Miami, he learned to play the guitar, working for two years in New York as a musician and a dockworker. He also performed in Shakespearean plays at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre and worked as a repertory actor in New York and New Orleans[4] before becoming a client of the William Morris Agency.[6]

In 1967, Martin was signed as a contract player at Universal Studios after being recommended by June Havoc, who saw him perform when they were both working at the New Orleans Repertory Company.[8] However, in August of that year, he broke 15 bones in a motorcycle accident after crashing into an oak tree. He spent four days in a coma and required two years recuperation during which he lost 40 pounds.[9]

Following his recovery, Martin starred as the title character in the Blaxploitation film Trick Baby (1972) based on the novel by Iceberg Slim. He appeared in The Panic in Needle Park (1971) featuring Al Pacino and Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973) along with a young Jeff Bridges. He also costarred in the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was the basis for the television series The Dukes of Hazzard.[10][11][12] He was, with Jon Voight and Michael Sarrazin, among the final three actors considered for the role of Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy.[13][14]

Martin made guest appearances on various television shows throughout the late 1960s and the 1970s, including Dragnet, Ironside, The Virginian, and Gunsmoke. He was also a regular on the soap opera The Edge of Night.[2] He considered himself to have been typecast as a villain, saying that Hill Street Blues "was the first time in my career I played a part where I wasn't some terrible creep. I'd killed every goddamned thing in America, including nuns and babies. I did soap for a year and a half, and I axed five people because their contracts were up."[15]

Martin was also cast in roles that required his musical skills. He wrote and performed the song "Not for Long" for the 1972 made for TV movie The Catcher, also co-writing the film's title track with Jackie DeShannon, who sang it.[16] He had earlier sung the blues song "Alberta" on The Virginian and Tom Paxton's "I'm Bound for the Mountains and the Sea" for the soundtrack of Then Came Bronson, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. His Moonrunners character Bobby Lee Hagg is also a guitar player.

Hill Street Blues

[edit]

In 1980, Martin was cast in his most famous role as Detective John "J. D." LaRue, a skilled yet morally questionable plainclothes detective, who he played on all seven seasons of the police procedural Hill Street Blues (1980–1987). Martin had earlier come to the attention of Steven Bochco, co-creator of Hill Street with Michael Kozoll. Martin had guest-starred on Bochco's The Bold Ones: The New Doctors and two of Bochco's earlier and short-lived police shows, Delvecchio and Paris. He was one of three Hill Street regulars, along with Michael Conrad and Charles Haid, who had appeared on Delvecchio and one of two, along with Michael Warren, who had appeared on Paris.[17][18] To prepare for the role, Martin rode the "Skid Row Beat" with cops in Los Angeles, and he later visited officers injured in the line of duty. In 1985, he was made an honorary detective sergeant by the Macon, Georgia police department.[19][20]

Martin described LaRue as "a total opportunist, totally impetuous and quite unrealistic in his attitude toward advancement and success. But he's a very good cop, which is something that not many people mention."[3] Though LaRue boasts of "two medals of valor, three citations for bravery"[21] and "a higher arrest tally than any clown in this room,"[22] his many vices often threaten to derail his police career. In the final episodes of the first season, "Rites of Spring" and "Jungle Madness", each two hours long, Hill Street precinct captain Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) gives LaRue an ultimatum to either face his drinking problem or leave the force. A later scene in which LaRue attends a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and is warmly greeted by Furillo, revealed also to be an alcoholic, is often cited as the most memorable of the series.[23]

Though LaRue, at last, conquers his addiction in the second season, for the rest of the series he remains a womanizer and a frequent orchestrater of scams, get rich quick schemes, and sometimes dangerous practical jokes. Martin believed that "J. D. is close to being the kind of person he arrests. He pulls back just at the brink."[24] He objected to a storyline about LaRue having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, believing it would make his character "unredeemable." In response to his concerns, the script was changed so that LaRue rejects her.[3]

He often appears onscreen paired with his partner and best friend Detective Neil Washington (Taurean Blacque) who alternates between being LaRue's conscience and co-conspirator. It was one of two interracial partnerships on the show, Martin commenting "my character is involved in enough screwups and career-shortening attitudes that he doesn't need to be a racist on top of it."[3]

During and after Hill Street

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In 1984, Martin starred in a University of Alabama at Birmingham production of Martin Sherman's Bent, a controversial play about the persecution of gay men in Nazi Germany.[24][25] He continued to be a frequent television guest star, appearing on The Love Boat, Father Dowling Mysteries, Miami Vice, Murder, She Wrote, and two episodes of Steven Bochco's LA Law. He also played Eckels in an episode of The Ray Bradbury Theatre in an adaption of the science fiction short story "A Sound of Thunder." Martin starred in the short-lived 1987 Fox sitcom Second Chance until its revamping as Boys Will Be Boys resulted in his character being dropped.[26] He starred as Daniel in the 1989 Spanish film Lluvia de otoño (Autumn Rain) in his only non-English-speaking role.[27]

Personal life

[edit]

Martin was married three times. In 1969, he married Claudia Martin, who was actor and crooner Dean Martin's daughter. They had a daughter named Jesse. The marriage ended in 1971.[28][29] He was married to Christina Montoya from 1978 to 1980. His final marriage was to Joanne La Pomaroa from 1982 to 1984.

Martin, like his character J. D. LaRue, struggled with an alcohol addiction that negatively affected his work. In 1984, at the insistence of Hill Street Blues' producers, Martin completed an alcohol rehabilitation program. LaRue was written out of four episodes of the fourth season, the only of the series in which he did not appear.[23] Martin returned for the season finale, having achieved sobriety two years after his character. In 1986, Martin revealed that Steven Bochco had written LaRue's first season plotline with the goal of encouraging Martin to seek help for his real-life alcoholism. He explained that the episodes "Rites of Spring" and "Jungle Madness" where LaRue confronts his worsening addiction and eventually joins AA "were written as a message of love to me. Steven Bochco loved me and cared for me. It was a message I failed to heed."[30] Martin's friend Ron Herbinger later said that Bochco was responsible for Martin entering rehabilitation and emerging "super clean."[31]

Martin worked with charities, including the Better Hearing Institute[32] and United Cerebral Palsy, appearing in the latter's annual telethon.[33] He was also an avid golfer and took part in many celebrity golf tournaments for charitable causes.[34][35] Martin contributed a short essay to the Los Angeles Times about his lifelong love of fishing.[36][37] A guitarist and composer, he continued to play and write songs as a hobby.[38]

Death

[edit]

In January of 1990, Martin was performing the role of Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey in a Calgary production of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues[39] when he was forced to leave the play following chest pains.[40] A biopsy revealed that he was suffering from lung cancer and he soon began chemotherapy.[41] Friends would later describe him as displaying "courage" and "a positive attitude" during this time.[33]

Martin died of cardiovascular collapse caused by lung cancer, aged 46, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California.[2][42] Though most obituaries reported that no funeral services were held for Martin, friend Ron Herbinger explained that "in Kiel's will he set aside some money for a party in some park in Palm Springs for close friends. He then was cremated and his ashes were flown over the gathering and spread from the sky."[31]

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes Source
1960 La caperucita roja The Ferocious Wolf English version, Voice, Uncredited
1961 Caperucita y sus tres amigos English version, Voice, Uncredited
1962 Caperucita y Pulgarcito contra los monstruos English version, Voice, Uncredited
1969 The Undefeated Union Runner [43][44]
1971 The Panic in Needle Park Chico [45]
1972 Trick Baby White Folks [46]
1973 Lolly-Madonna XXX Ludie Gutshall [47]
1975 Moonrunners Bobby Lee Hagg [48]
1982 Human Highway Construction Worker
1989 Lluvia de otoño Daniel [27]
Television
Year Title Role Notes Source
1968 Dragnet Walter Marshall Season 2, Episode 22, "The Little Victim" [49]
1968 Ironside Billy Meeker Season 1, Episode 23, "Barbara Who"
1968 The Virginian Tony Barnes Season 6, Episode 4, "Star Crossed" [44][50]
1968 The Virginian Cal Dorsey Season 6, Episode 21, "The Hell Wind" [44][50]
1969 The Virginian Trooper Rankin Season 7, Episode 22, "Incident at Diablo Crossing" [44]
1970 Then Came Bronson Soundtrack Season 1, Episode 18, "That Undiscovered Country" (sings "Wonderin' Where I'm Wanderin'" and "I'm Bound for the Mountains and the Sea")
1971 The Bold Ones: The New Doctors Dr. Martin Thomas Season 2, Episode 8, "Tender Predator"
1971 The Psychiatrist Jo Jo Poole Season 1, Episode 5, "Ex-Sgt. Randell File, U.S.A." [50]
1972 The Catcher Wes Watkins TV movie [16]
1972 Gunsmoke Ike Daggett Season 18, Episode 5, "The Drummer" [44][51]
1973 Kung Fu Marshal Season 1, Episode 13, "The Stone" [44]
1974 Kodiak Ty Spencer Season 1, Episode 10, "The Burning Snow"
1975 The Log of the Black Pearl Christopher Sand TV movie [16]
1975 Requiem for a Nun Pete TV movie
1976 The Blue Knight Hank Meyer Season 1, Episode 7, "The Candy Man" [49]
1976 Joe Forrester Marty Singer Season 1, Episode 19, "Girl on a String" [49][51]
1976 Harry O Ed Wilkie Season 2, Episode 22, "Death Certificate" [49][51]
1976 Delvecchio Billy Yates Season 1, Episode 11, "Red Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" [51]
1977-1978 The Edge of Night Raney Cooper TV soap opera [26]
1979 Paris Bo Manning Season 1, Episode 1, "Pilot" [49]
1981-1987 Hill Street Blues J. D. LaRue 144 episodes [26]
1981 Child Bride of Short Creek Bob Kalish TV movie [52]
1982 Matt Houston Bill Claudius Season 1, Episode 5, "Who Would Kill Ramona?" [52]
1982 The Love Boat Joe Novak Season 6, Episode 7, "The Spoonmaker Diamond/Papa Doc/The Role Model/Julie's Tycoon: Part 1" [52]
1982 The Love Boat Joe Novak Season 6, Episode 8, "The Spoonmaker Diamond/Papa Doc/The Role Model/Julie's Tycoon: Part 2" [52]
1987 Convicted: A Mother's Story Van TV movie [52]
1987 If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium Zane Drinkwater TV movie [52]
1987 Second Chance Charles Russell 9 episodes [26]
1989 Father Dowling Mysteries Parker Season 1, Episode 1, "The Missing Body Mystery. Part 1" [52]
1989 LA Law Frank Weiland Season 3, Episode 15, "The Unbearable Lightness of Boring" [52]
1989 LA Law Frank Weiland Season 3, Episode 16, "His Suit Is Hirsute" [52]
1989 Miami Vice Paul Cutter Season 5, Episode 20, "Leap of Faith" [52]
1989 The Ray Bradbury Theater Eckers Season 3, Episode 6, "A Sound of Thunder" [53]
1990 Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen Max Mulgrew TV movie [52]
1990 Murder, She Wrote Danny Snow Season 6, Episode 13, "If the Shoe Fits" (final appearance) [52]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Obituary Variety, January 7, 1991.
  2. ^ a b c d "Actor Kiel Martin Dies at 46". The Washington Post. January 2, 1991. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Feder, Robert (July 17, 1983). "Working on Hill Street is sheer pleasure". The Spokesman-Review. p. 87. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c MacNeil, Chris (August 1, 1981). "Hill Street's LaRue hopes for 5-year run". The Kokomo Tribune. p. 17. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Kelley, Bill (October 31, 1987). "'Second Chance' For Kiel Martin". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Jicha, Tom (May 19, 1981). "Local makes good being bad — in 'Street Blues'". The Miami News. p. 20. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Carlton, Bob (May 1, 1984). "'Hill Street's' Kiel Martin dislikes being idle". The Shreveport Journal. p. 11. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Kim Novak Tells Some Of Her Marriage Ideas". Tampa Bay Times. September 1, 1967. p. 60. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "'I Was Trouble As A Kid'". The Daily Herald. June 8, 1981. p. 36. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ White, Bryan (June 26, 2008). "Just the good ol' boys. Never meanin' no harm. Moonrunners". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  11. ^ Holland, Jon (2009). "Dukes Historian". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  12. ^ LeVasseur, Andrea. "Moonrunners Review". StarPulse.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  13. ^ Mann, William J. (2006). Edge of Midnight: The Life of John Schlesinger. New York: Billboard Books. pp. 306–307. ISBN 9780823084692.
  14. ^ Holleran, Scott (2007). "Interview: Actor Jon Voight". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  15. ^ Lambert, Andy (2004–2022). "The Hill Street Blue's Playboys Interview unedited". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  16. ^ a b c Marill, Alvin H. (1980). Movies Made for Television: The Telefeature and the Mini-Series 1964-1979. Farncombe, Godalming, Surrey: LSP Books Limited. pp. 99, 198. ISBN 9780853210818.
  17. ^ Gitlin, Todd (2005). Inside Prime Time. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 289. ISBN 9781134886586.
  18. ^ Thompson, Robert J. (1997). Television's Second Golden Age From Hill Street Blues to ER. New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 62. ISBN 9780815605041.
  19. ^ Saiani, Tina (June 23, 1985). "Unlike his character, Kiel Martin knows how to relax". The Macon Telegraph. p. 19. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Todd, Paula (April 3, 1986). "Crippled officer wows Hill Street Blues star". The Toronto Star. p. 5. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Moon Over Uranus". Hill Street Blues. Season 3. Episode 14. Jan 27, 1983. NBC.
  22. ^ "Jungle Madness". Hill Street Blues. Season 1. Episode 15. May 26, 1981. NBC.
  23. ^ a b Holsopple, Barbara (February 24, 1984). "Life mirrors art for Kiel Martin of 'Hill Street Blues'". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 49. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ a b Hodges, Sam (April 13, 1984). "There's a little bit of J. D. in Hill Street's Martin". Birmingham Post-Herald. p. 39. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Hodges, Sam (April 25, 1984). "'Bent' riveting, but only for open-minded". Birmingham Post-Herald. p. 10. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ a b c d McNeil, Alex (1991). Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present. New York, New York: Penguin Books. p. 230, 346, 672. ISBN 9780140157369.
  27. ^ a b Caparrós Lera, J. M. (1992). El cine espanol de la democracia: De la muerte de Franco al "cambio" socialista (1975-1989). Barcelona: Anthropos. p. 372. ISBN 9788476583128.
  28. ^ Lisanti, Tom (2003). Drive-in Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties. McFarland. p. 285. ISBN 9780786471652.
  29. ^ Martin, Deana; Holden, Wendy (2004). Memories are Made of this: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes. New York: Harmony Books. pp. 184, 269. ISBN 9781400050437.
  30. ^ Hilton, Pat (March 30, 1986). "J. D. and Kiel Both Cleaned Up Their Acts". The Honolulu Advertiser. p. 186. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ a b Lambert, Andy (2004–2022). "Recollections of Hill Street Blues". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  32. ^ "Hearing, Speech Month Observed". The Opelika-Auburn News. May 10, 1985. p. 5. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ a b "Friends remember Kiel Martin's courage". The Desert Sun. January 1, 1991. p. 3. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ Benes, Fran (April 6, 1989). "Celebrities move fast at MS golf tournament". The Desert Sun. p. 34. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Purkey, Mike (April 22, 1990). "Stars To Come Out For Freedom Classic Benefit". The Charlotte Observer. p. 52. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ Martin, Kiel (October 20, 1985). "Castaway: It's Not the Fish, It's the Fishing That Does the Trick". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  37. ^ Martin, Kiel (October 20, 1985). "Castaway: It's Not the Fish, It's the Fishing That Does the Trick". The Los Angeles Times. pp. 420, 421. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ Hyche, Jerald (April 20, 1984). "'Hill Street' star returns to stage". The Montgomery Advertiser. p. 19. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ Zimmerman, Kate (January 19, 1990). "LaRue just role for Kiel Martin". Calgary Herald. pp. 72, 73. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ "Actor takes over role". Calgary Herald. February 13, 1990. p. 35. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "Actor suffering from cancer". Calgary Herald. February 14, 1990. p. 35. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ "Kiel Martin, 46, Actor Who Played Sleazy Cop on 'Hill Street Blues'". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. January 2, 1991. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  43. ^ "The Undefeated". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  44. ^ a b c d e f Lentz, Harris M. (1996). Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits 1903-1995, Volume 2. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 1466, 1620, 1646, 1743, 1744, 1745. ISBN 9780786402182.
  45. ^ "The Panic in Needle Park". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  46. ^ "Trick Baby". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  47. ^ "Lolly-Madonna XXX". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  48. ^ "Moonrunners". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  49. ^ a b c d e Martindale, David (1991). Television Detective Shows of the 1970s: Credits, Storylines, and Episode Guides for 109 Series. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 59, 137, 190, 251, 372. ISBN 9780899505572.
  50. ^ a b c Gianakos, Larry James (1978). Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1959-1975. Metuchen, N.J. & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 388, 389, 672. ISBN 9780810811164.
  51. ^ a b c d Gianakos, Larry James (1981). Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1975-1980. Metuchen, N.J. & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 141, 180, 203, 343. ISBN 9780810814387.
  52. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Inman, David (2001). Performers' Television Credits, 1948-2000. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 1887. ISBN 9780786410415.
  53. ^ Sandercombe, W. Fraser (2010). Masters of SF: the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Burlington, Ont.: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc. p. 126. ISBN 9781897350287.
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