Gerald S. O'Loughlin

Gerald S. O’Loughlin, a veteran character actor who was probably best known for playing Lieutenant Ryker on the 1970s ABC cop show "The Rookies," has died, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He was 93.

O’Loughlin died July 31 of natural causes at West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles, his son, Christopher, said.

O’Loughlin appeared in Truman Capote’s "In Cold Blood" in 1967 and also in the movies "Ensign Pulver," "Ice Station Zebra" with Rock Hudson and "The Organization" opposite Sidney Poitier.

O’Loughlin also starred on television as neighbor Joe Kaplan in the 1980s NBC family drama "Our House," starring Wilford Brimley.

"The Rookies" ran on ABC from 1972 through 1976 and starred Georg Stanford Brown, Michael Ontkean and Kate Jackson. His character Ed Ryker guided his new troops with patience and a bit of resignation.

"I sort of enjoyed being a lieutenant on "The Rookies." Maybe because I was a lieutenant in the Marine Corps," he said in a 2011 interview. "After "The Rookies," they offered me "The Love Boat." The part that Gavin MacLeod got," but he turned it down.

O’Loughlin was born in New York City and raised in Spring Valley, N.Y. He served with the Marines during World War II and afterwards went on to study acting with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York.

He then became a member of the famed Actors Studio when Meisner recommended him to Lee Strasberg.

In addition to his son, survivors include his daughter, Laura; daughter-in-law, Colleen Clinton, and grandsons Finnian and Maximilian.