Charles Dierkop Dies: ‘The Sting’, ‘Butch Cassidy’ & ‘Police Woman’ Actor Was 87

Charles Dierkop, best known for his roles in The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Police Woman, died Sunday at a Sherman Oaks Hospital. He was 87.

He reportedly suffered from a heart attack and a case of pneumonia.

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The Wisconsin-born character actor got his start in an uncredited role opposite Paul Newman in The Hustler. He reunited with him as Flat Nose Curry in the 1969 flick Butch Cassidy and as a bodyguard in the Best Picture Oscar-winning 1973 movie The Sting.

He found steady work in TV, with roles in episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Mannix, Kung Fu, The F.B.I., The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, Batman, Adam-12, It Takes a Thief, Love, American Style and Mission: Impossible.

Dierkop played Detective Pete Royston from 1974-78 as a series regular opposite Angie Dickinson on NBC’s Police Woman, a spinoff of Police Story.

His 1980s and ’90s work included guest roles on such popular series as Simon & Simon, The Fall Guy, T.J. Hooker, Matt Houston and MacGyver. Dierkop also appeared in a number of B-movies well into the 2000s. His last credited role was in the 2018 film Heaven & Hell.

Dierkop is survived by his daughter, Lynn.

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