Police work is a family business in the long-running CBS procedural “Blue Bloods.” Created by “The Sopranos” writers Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green, the series takes a panoramic view of the NYPD, from the city streets to City Hall, as seen through the eyes of the Reagan family: Beat cop Jamie (Will Estes), hotheaded star detective Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), prosecuting attorney Erin (Bridget Moynihan), and above them all, their tough-but-fair police commissioner father Frank (Tom Selleck), who in turn struggles under the shadow of his own legendary father (Len Cariou). While in many ways a meat-and-potatoes cop show in the vein of the deathless “Law & Order” franchise on NBC, the series distinguishes itself with soulful performances, particularly from Selleck and Moynihan, and its willingness to tackle the issues of the day via its “family dinner” scenes, in which Frank gathers his children for Sunday supper and they hash out their personal and professional dilemmas.
After 13 seasons (and counting), hundreds of actors have passed through the show’s ranks, from well-known film and TV stars and Broadway legends, to Burgess and Green’s old colleagues from “The Sopranos” and its HBO stablemate “The Wire,” to at least one New York icon as himself. Sadly, not all of those performers are still with us. Let’s take a look at “Blue Blood” actors that you may not know passed away.
Tony Bennett
Season 2 started with a bang and a song. When a high-rolling supporter (Bob Gaynor) of the incoming mayor (David Ramsey) is shot dead while visiting his mistress, the mayor leans on Frank to solve the case quickly while also keeping the murder’s more scandalous details out of the public eye. It’s a typical intersection of the personal, professional, and political for “Blue Bloods,” and Frank contends with this ethical quandary while attending a black-tie gala featuring singers Carrie Underwood and Tony Bennett as themselves. The pair sing the Gershwin standard “It Had to Be You” (also featured on Bennett’s then-new album of duets, they helpfully announce), and Bennett does a bit of stage banter with Frank.
Bennett enjoyed a legendary career as a recording artist, from his years atop the charts as a post-Sinatra crooner to his unlikely resurgence in the 1990s and beyond, but he was also a fixture of television from the earliest days of the Golden Age and even hosted his own short-lived variety show in 1956. Decades later he wowed Gen-X audiences on “MTV Unplugged” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” where he held a regular gig at Christmastime for years. As an actor, he played a few character roles on “The Danny Thomas Show” and “77 Sunset Strip.” Mostly, though, he seemed content to portray himself, appearing as “Tony Bennett” on “Remington Steele,” “Suddenly Susan,” and “30 Rock,” as well as films like “The Scout” and “Analyze This.” Bennett died in July 2023, just two weeks shy of his 97th birthday.
Ed Asner
The 2020 episode “Vested Interests” takes aim at the controversial New York State law, passed in 2019, that allows people charged with a crime to revisit the scene of that crime — even private residences — in order to build their defense. “Blue Bloods” stands firmly on the side of the victim and stacks its case accordingly: The victim, played by beloved actor Ed Asner, is not only an elderly disabled man robbed and beaten in his own home but also Frank’s childhood mentor who saved him from a life of juvenile delinquency. Asner is his normal cantankerous self here; the episode actually provides a memorable showcase for Selleck, as Frank despairs to see his boyhood hero in the twilight of his life.
Born in Missouri, Asner did a stint in the Army before he pursued acting, first in Chicago and later in New York in the 1950s. His big break, however, wouldn’t come until 1971, when he was cast as combative TV new manager Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The seminal sitcom ran until 1977, after which Asner helmed the dramatic spin-off “Lou Grant” for five seasons; he remains the only actor to have won an Emmy in both Comedy and Drama categories for playing the same role. In the 2000s, he became known to a new generation of fans thanks to roles in “Elf” and “Up,” and he kept working until his August 2021 death. Several of his final projects, including voice work in “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” and the Disney+ short “Carl’s Date,” opened posthumously.
Phyllis Somerville
Jamie and his partner Eddie (Vanessa Jay) find themselves in the middle of a domestic terrorism case in the Season 5 episode “Occupational Hazards.” After a pipe bomb goes off in an apartment the two are searching, the hunt begins for a man named “J.J.,” who rented a room. However, no one knows J.J.’s last name or what he looks like other than the elderly woman (Phyllis Sommerville) who owns the apartment, and she seems convinced that Eddie is her long-lost niece.
The Iowa-born Somerville lived the life of a New York working actor, appearing in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions while logging time in small roles in film and TV. She became a favorite of theater aficionados for her roles in “Once in a Lifetime” and the recent Aaron Sorkin-penned adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Broadway, as well as her collaborations with Signature Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, and many more. She made her film debut in 1981 with a small role in “Arthur” opposite Dudley Moore, and later appeared in “Little Children” and the retirement home cheerleading comedy “Poms,” but most of her on-screen work came in television. She recurred on Showtime’s “The Big C” and the WGN crime drama “Outsiders,” and made guest appearances on “Chappelle’s Show,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and “Castle Rock.” Somerville died in 2020 of natural causes at age 76. The HBO drama “Mare of Easttown” was her final role.
James Rebhorn
The Reagans are a good Irish Catholic family, but an old conflict puts Frank at odds with the Church in the Season 2 episode “Leap of Faith.” When his archbishop (James Rebhorn) asks for support in the possible canonization of an old parish priest, Frank seems surprisingly reluctant. He served as an altar boy under “Father Bill,” but they had a severe difference of opinions over the Vietnam War: Frank joined the Marines while Father Bill became increasingly radical in his anti-war efforts, to the point of breaking the law. Rebhorn’s Archbishop McGovern is perplexed by Frank’s reaction to the news that a Brooklyn priest might become a saint, as he clearly hoped that the approval of the NYPD commissioner would impress a visiting Vatican official (Dominic Comperatore).
Rebhorn’s film career began in the 1980s, mostly on television, but it took until the 1990s for him to hit his stride with a string of roles that made him one of the decade’s great “Hey, it’s that guy” character actors. Directors often cast him as one smug, condescending official or another, a stuffed shirt just waiting to get taken down a peg, from the self-satisfied boys’ school principal in “Scent of a Woman” to Bill Pullman’s weasely Secretary of Defense in “Independence Day.” Later TV projects included recurring roles on “White Collar” and “Homeland,” where he played Claire Danes’ father. Rebhorn died of melanoma in 2014 at age 65, and penned his own obituary, writing, “He was a lucky man in every way.”
Lynn Cohen
An elderly woman’s mugging exposes a fissure in the friendship between Erin and Det. Anthony Abetemarco (Steve Schirripa) in the Season 9 episode “Mind Games.” When Mrs. Costello, played by character actress Lynn Cohen, complains to Anthony that her assailant was released on a misdemeanor charge even though he wielded a gun, the inveterate mama’s boy reopens the case for her. Since the original police report neglected to mention the gun, the mugger is arraigned on a higher charge. This upsets Erin because Anthony did not include her in his activities and embarrassed her in front of her new staff. Of course, the hard feelings are short-lived, and the two patch things up over martinis at the end of the day.
Cohen’s role is surprisingly small for an actress of her experience and caliber, just one scene that mainly serves as a catalyst for the Erin-Anthony subplot. Like her fellow “Blue Bloods” co-star James Rebhorn, Cohen was a longtime New York stage actress who got her start on screen in the early 1980s; the two even appeared on the same soap opera, the short-lived “Another World” spinoff, “Texas.” On television, Cohen’s best-known role was Magda, Miranda’s dry, pious housekeeper on “Sex and the City,” which she reprised in the series’ 2008 film and its sequel. She also starred in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and in the “Hunger Games” sequel “Catching Fire” as veteran champion Mags. Cohen died in February 2020 at age 86.
Peter Scolari
In Season 10’s “Careful What You Wish For,” Jamie and a pair of EMTs are ambushed on the job and fired upon. One EMT dies while the other is injured, but when Danny and partner Maria (Marisa Ramirez) try to question the survivor, they are hassled at the hospital by her commanding officer, Captain Higgins (guest star Peter Scolari). The attack was part of a recent spate of ambulance robberies, and considering the technical know-how it takes to pull off these attacks, Danny immediately suspects an inside job, with Higgins at the top of his suspect list.
Scolari first made a name for himself as a sitcom actor in the 1980s, starring in the short-lived drag comedy “Bosom Buddies” alongside fellow unknown Tom Hanks, and winning an Emmy for his role on the Bob Newhart-led “Newhart.” He took a break from being a series regular for much of the 1990s, notching guest roles on everything from “Batman: The Animated Series” to “The Drew Carey Show,” before starring for three seasons in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show.” The actor also reunited with Hanks for a number of projects, including “From the Earth to the Moon,” “That Thing You Do!,” and a 2013 Broadway production of Nora Ephron’s “Lucky Guy.” Scolari became a prolific theater star in the 21st century, taking over for Joel Grey in the original Broadway production of “Wicked.” Fans of the HBO series “Girls” no doubt recognize him as Hannah’s father Tad, who follows his daughter to New York City and his own journey of self-discovery. Scolari died of cancer in 2021 at age 66.
Nick Cordero
Nick Cordero’s wisecracking mob boss Victor Lugo served as something of a foil for Danny in Season 8, always in sight but just out of reach. First introduced in “Out of the Blue,” the season’s fourth episode, Danny considers him the prime suspect in the gangland-style murder of a detective; but Victor claims an alibi for the day in question, and when Danny attacks him as an intimidation tactic, he sues the NYPD. Midway through the season, Danny catches up with Victor once again in the episode “Heavy Wears the Head,” this time with Victor running a car theft ring. Finally, in the late-season episode “Your Six,” Danny must enlist the aid of his punny nemesis, now incarcerated, to help track down a prison escapee.
The Canadian-born Cordero, a Tony Award-nominated actor and singer, made his Broadway debut in the jukebox musical “Rock of Ages” and appeared in musical adaptations of “Bullets Over Broadway,” “A Bronx Tale” (playing a character originated by Chazz Palminteri in both shows, oddly enough), and “Waitress.” His small-screen debut occurred in a 2005 episode of Showtime’s “Queer as Folk,” followed by roles in the Netflix mob comedy “Lilyhammer” and two episodes of “Law & Order: SVU.” On the big screen, he co-starred in Zach Braff’s 2017 remake of “Going in Style” and the 2019 docudrama “Mob Town.” Sadly, Cordero died of COVID-19 in July 2020 after spending three months in the hospital; he was 41 years old and left behind a wife, actress Amanda Kloots, and a young son.
Treat Williams
Were the “good old days” really that good? For the most part, “Blue Bloods” says yes, they were. Still, even for a show as generally uncritical of policing as this one, there are skeletons in the closet, and sometimes those skeletons pop out. Enter Lenny Ross, a retired cop and Frank’s one-time partner, played by Treat Williams. In his introductory episode, Season 6’s “Back in the Day,” he is writing a book about his days on patrol, one that proudly flouts all the bad behavior and extralegal actions that cops in those days (including Frank) routinely got into. A well-meaning charmer, Lenny turns up every couple of seasons to cause trouble for his old partner; his most recent, and sadly final, appearance took place in the Season 13 episode fittingly titled “Irish Goodbyes.”
Williams made his screen debut at age 24 in the 1975 cop drama “Deadly Hero.” His career took off from there, with lead roles in Milos Forman’s adaptation of the hit musical “Hair” and the Sidney Lumet corruption tale “Prince of the City,” among many others. With his movie-star looks and character-actor energy, Williams’ career was never predictable, whether playing real-life super-agent Michael Ovitz in “The Late Shift” or getting his Clark Gable on as the hammy villain of 1996’s “The Phantom.” In 2002 he gained a new generation of fans thanks to the WB small-town drama “Everwood.” In June 2023 Williams was killed in a motorcycle accident near his Vermont home. He was 71 years old; “Blue Bloods” marked one of his final screen credits.
