2022 Deaths

Julien began his career in New York's Off-Broadway circuit including Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park. Moving westward, he landed co-starring roles with Jack Nicholson in Psych-Out (1968) and Candice Bergen in Columbia's box-office hit, Getting Straight (1970).

In Uptight (1968), New York Times critic Judith Crist considered him a standout in a standout cast. The Santa Monica Evening Outlook's Raoul Gripenwaldt predicted that Julien's portrayal of Johnny Wells in Paramount's Uptight (1968) could well result in an Academy Award nomination. Julien was invited to Europe to discuss film possibilities. He went on to write the screenplay for and subsequently co-produce Warner Brothers' Cleopatra Jones (1973).

In a joint venture with Columbia Pictures, Julien wrote, produced, and starred in Thomasine & Bushrod (1974). Assuming responsibility for the final look of the film, he assisted in the direction, supervised the editing and created the design concept for the costumes. The New York Times declared it a western of considerable freshness. The film garnered him a NAACP Image Award Nomination for Best Writer of the year. He then took a sabbatical from film, landing on several other continents, exploring the political developments of their cultures and writing poetry. He completed a novel, Dark Clowns Kickin' Ass, and finished 13 pieces of sculpture exhibited in galleries throughout the United States including Los Angeles' prestigious Pacific Design Center. Julien was dubbed one of the most popular and important filmmakers in the United States (L.A. Times), and graced the covers of such magazines as Ebony and Jet.

A group of Nigerian businessmen commissioned Julien to do a feasibility study for the development of a West African Film Colony. He selected a crew from Europe, Australia and the United States, and for a two-month period trained local craftsmen in the art of filmmaking. As a tribute to his accomplishments and international profile, a year later he was invited to return to co-write and star in Bisi & The Sun God.

In the early 1990s, Julien wrote, directed and essayed the title role in the docudrama Sketches Of A Man/The Charles Drew Story, about the African-American doctor who invented blood plasma. The mid-1990s returned him to West Africa starring, writing, executive-producing and directing Sangu, The Silent One. Nigeria's Ibaden Tribune said "Max Julien's Sangu is a masterpiece, a must for every Third World human being; more appropriately, every spiritual, peace loving person on the globe. This gifted, connected thread (Julien) will do much to keep the continents from colliding." Nigeria's Daily Times echoed "The Silent One speaks loudly; Julien's wisdom has not tarnished, his eyes and his words address the inner feelings of the common man of color. He's a joy to look upon, he is to be cherished."

In the billion dollar consumer market of hip hop, Julien became a Brand Name in hot demand by Rap, R&B and Pop entertainers to write and deliver his uniquely lyrical expressions including: Do Or Die's CD featuring Kanye West and R. Kelly, and Houston blues singer Rue Davis's Legends Are Forever album in early 2007. Around the same time he was writing dialogue for a Warner Brothers video game based on Clint Eastwood's iconic "Dirty Harry" character that ended when the studio shelved the project. He was also a sought-after guest speaker.

On May 13, 2011, on Yahoo News, Nick Cannon was being interviewed for his upcoming Showtime comedy special Mr. Showbiz, which included poking fun at his then-wife, Mariah Carey. Earlier reviews indicate one of the most hilarious bits involved him accusing Mariah of pimping him like Julien ("Goldie" from The Mack (1973)).

Despite being notoriously reclusive, in 2012 Julien's popularity reached cult-like proportions. His face hangs in the lobby Walls of Fame in Magic Johnson's Theatres from L.A. to Atlanta to Harlem.

Stevie Wonder included Julien in the dedications on his classic album "Songs In The Key of Life". Dick Kleiner wrote a chapter about him in his book ESP & The Stars. In Miramax's book on 1970s films, What It Is & What It Was, Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson complimented the actor/filmmaker, saying "I always went to see whatever Max Julien was doing." In a February 2008 interview on Fadar-TV, mega Hip-hop star Rick Ross removed his t-shirt and revealed Julien's face tattooed on his body.

Ninety percent of the world's rappers have sampled his voice and the music from The Mack (1973) (Outkast, 50-Cents, Three 6 Mafia etc.) familiarizing him among the 75% male and female consumers between 15 and 25 years of age, who happen to be white.

Quentin Tarantino scripted a film, True Romance, that shows Julien in a clip while Christian Slater says "I know that film. It's The Mack (1973) starring Max Julien." Although he declined a writing credit, Julien co-wrote the script along with co-star Richard Pryor and director Michael Campus. He also made major contributions in designing the costumes. It remains one of the leading DVD rentals/sellers in the world, recently cited by Entertainment Weekly as the 20th top cult film of all times, on a list of 50.

Julien had a starring cameo and wrote his own role in Def Jam's comedy hit, "How To Be A Player", then wrote and performed the intro, 19 interludes and the final recording on the film's platinum selling soundtrack album. He wrote and performed on Rap-A-Lot artist Tela's Gold Now or Never CD; was highlighted throughout The Hughes Brothers' documentary "The American Pimp"; starred in Bradley Smith's award-winning film short film "Restore"; and featured in N.Y.'s 2002 Urban World Film Festival as well as on Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Channel.

Janusz Leski was born on 12 February 1930 in Radomsko, Lódzkie, Poland. He was a writer and director, known for Miasteczko (1960), Rodzina Lesniewskich (1983) and Janka (1989). He died on 1 January 2022 in Radomsko, Lódzkie, Poland.

Mikhail Bychkov was born on 21 June 1950 in Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, Yaroslavl Oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Dersu Uzala (1975), Bezbiletnaya passazhirka (1978) and Bereg (1984). He died on 1 January 2022.

Foulis Boudouroglou was an actor, known for Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei (2004), Pame gia ena ouzo (2002) and Rozalia, Ena Bestseller (1993). He died on 2 January 2022 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Richard Leakey (19 December 1944 - 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan palaeoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. He held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife conservation. He had been Director of the National Museum of Kenya, founded the NGO WildlifeDirect, and was the chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Viktor Vrabec was born on 18 May 1941 in Vysoké Mýto, Protektorát Cechy a Morava [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for 'Babicky dobíjejte presne!' (1984), I, Olga Hepnarova (2016) and Prísahám a slibuji (1990). He died on 2 January 2022 in the Czech Republic.

Jay Weaver was born in 1980. He was married to Emily. He died on 2 January 2022 in the USA.

Sofia Mihopoulou was an actress, known for Prin ti nyhta (2004), The Bacchae (1986) and Theatro skion (1969). She died on 3 January 2022 in Greece.

Igor Bogdanoff was born on 29 August 1949 in Saint-Lary, Gers, France. He was an actor and writer, known for Steps to the Future (2010), Robo Story (1985) and Chassé-croisé (1982). He was married to Amélie de Bourbon Parme and Ludmilla d'Oultremont. He died on 3 January 2022 in Paris, France.

Joan Copeland, the sister of famed playwright Arthur Miller, is a renowned actress in her own right. She made her name on Broadway, debuting there in 1945 to begin a career that lasted more than 60 years. She also had a long career on television, where she appeared in a number of that medium's most popular soap operas. She played scheming villain Andrea Whiting in Search for Tomorrow (1951), and also appeared in Love of Life (1951) and The Edge of Night (1956), among others. She occasionally worked in films, but made fewer than 20 of them in her career, preferring the stage and television, where she made her debut in 1950.

Chinu Rajput was an actor, known for Jugnu (1973), Samadhi (1972) and Azaad (1978). He died on 4 January 2022 in Mumbai.

David Veach was born on 29 September 1967 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Reno 911!: Miami (2007), The Lost Face (2001) and Douche Bros (2013). He died on 4 January 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez was born on 7 June 1976 in the Philippines. He was a writer and actor, known for Tsardyer (2010), Ang gitaristang hindi marunong magskala (2014) and Huling biyahe (2012). He died on 4 January 2022 in Quezon City, Philippines.

Anita Gutwell was born on 14 November 1931 in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria. She was an actress, known for Försterliesel (1956), Echo der Berge (1954) and The Cowgirl of Saint Catherine (1955). She was married to Rudolf Nussgruber. She died on 4 January 2022 in Vienna, Austria.

Kim Mi-Soo was born on 16 March 1992 in South Korea. She was an actress, known for Into the Ring (2020), Kiss Sixth Sense (2022) and Snowdrop (2021). She died on 5 January 2022.

Maria Klenskaja was born on 29 January 1951 in Tartu, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]. She was an actress, known for Varastatud kohtumine (1989), Doktor Stockmann (1989) and Keskea rõõmud (1987). She was married to Aarne Üksküla. She died on 6 January 2022 in Estonia.

Peter Bogdanovich was conceived in Europe but born in Kingston, New York. He is the son of immigrants fleeing the Nazis, Herma (Robinson) and Borislav Bogdanovich, a painter and pianist. His father was a Serbian Orthodox Christian, and his mother was from a wealthy Austrian Jewish family. Peter originally was an actor in the 1950s, studying his craft with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler and appearing on television and in summer stock. In the early 1960s he achieved notoriety for programming movies at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. An obsessive cinema-goer, sometimes seeing up to 400 movies a year in his youth, Bogdanovich prominently showcased the work of American directors such as John Ford, about whom he subsequently wrote a book based on the notes he had produced for the MOMA retrospective of the director, and the then-underappreciated Howard Hawks. Bogdanovich also brought attention to such forgotten pioneers of American cinema as Allan Dwan.

Bogdanovich was influenced by the French critics of the 1950s who wrote for Cahiers du Cinema, especially critic-turned-director François Truffaut. Before becoming a director himself, he built his reputation as a film writer with articles in Esquire Magazine. In 1968, following the example of Cahiers du Cinema critics Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Éric Rohmer who had created the Nouvelle Vague ("New Wave") by making their own films, Bogdanovich became a director. Working for low-budget schlock-meister Roger Corman, Bogdanovich directed the critically praised Targets (1968) and the not-so-critically praised Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), a film best forgotten.

Turning back to journalism, Bogdanovich struck up a lifelong friendship with the legendary Orson Welles while interviewing him on the set of Mike Nichols' film adaptation of Catch-22 (1970) from the novel by Joseph Heller. Subsequently, Bogdanovich has played a major role in elucidating Welles and his career with his writings on the great actor-director, most notably his book "This is Orson Welles" (1992). He has steadily produced invaluable books about the cinema, especially "Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors," an indispensable tome that establishes Bogdanovich, along with Kevin Brownlow, as one of the premier English-language chroniclers of cinema.

The 32-year-old Bogdanovich was hailed by a critics as a Wellesian wunderkind when his most famous film, The Last Picture Show (1971) was released. The film received eight Academy Award nominations, including Bogdanovich as Best Director, and won two of them, for Cloris Leachman and "John Ford Stock Company" veteran Ben Johnson in the supporting acting categories. Bogdanovich, who had cast 19-year-old model Cybill Shepherd in a major role in the film, fell in love with the young beauty, an affair that eventually led to his divorce from the film's set designer Polly Platt, his longtime artistic collaborator and the mother of his two children.

Bogdanovich followed up The Last Picture Show (1971) with a major hit, What's Up, Doc? (1972), a screwball comedy heavily indebted to Hawks' Bringing Up Baby (1938) and His Girl Friday (1940), starring Barbra Streisand and 'Ryan O'Neal'. Despite his reliance on homage to bygone cinema, Bogdanovich had solidified his status as one of a new breed of A-list directors that included Academy Award winners Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin, with whom he formed The Directors Company. The Directors Company was a generous production deal with Paramount Pictures that essentially gave the directors carte blanche if they kept within strict budget limitations. It was through this entity that Bogdanovich's next big hit, the critically praised Paper Moon (1973), was produced.

Paper Moon (1973), a Depression-era comedy starring Ryan O'Neal that won his ten-year-old daughter Tatum O'Neal an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress, proved to be the highwater mark of Bogdanovich's career. Forced to share the profits with his fellow directors, Bogdanovich became dissatisfied with the arrangement. The Directors Company subsequently produced only two more films, Francis Ford Coppola's critically acclaimed The Conversation (1974) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture of 1974 and garnered Coppola an Oscar nod for Best Director, and Bogdanovich's Daisy Miller (1974), a film that had a quite different critical reception.

An adaptation of the Henry James novella, Daisy Miller (1974) spelled the beginning of the end of Bogdanovich's career as a popular, critically acclaimed director. The film, which starred Bogdanovich's lover Cybill Shepherd as the title character, was savaged by critics and was a flop at the box office. Bogdanovich's follow-up, At Long Last Love (1975), a filming of the Cole Porter musical starring Cybill Shepherd, was derided by some critics as one of the worst films ever made, noted as such in Harry Medved and Michael Medved's book "The Golden Turkey Awards: Nominees and Winners, the Worst Achievements in Hollywood History" (1980). The film also was a box office bomb despite featuring Burt Reynolds, a hotly burning star who would achieve super-nova status at the end of the 1970s.

Bogdanovich insisted on filming the musical numbers for At Long Last Love (1975) live, a process not used since the early days of the talkies, when sound engineer Douglas Shearer developed lip-synching at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The decision was widely ridiculed, as none of the leading actors were known for their singing abilities (Bogdanovich himself had produced a critically panned album of Cybill Shepherd singing Cole Porter songs in 1974). The public perception of Bogdanovich became that of an arrogant director hamstrung by his own hubris.

Trying to recapture the lightning in the bottle that was his early success, Bogdanovich once again turned to the past, his own and that of cinema, with Nickelodeon (1976). The film, a comedy recounting the earliest days of the motion picture industry, reunited Ryan O'Neal and 'Tatum O'Neal' from his last hit, Paper Moon (1973) with Burt Reynolds. Counseled not to use the unpopular (with both audiences and critics) Cybill Shepherd in the film, Bogdanovich instead used newcomer Jane Hitchcock as the film's ingénue. Unfortunately, the magic of Paper Moon (1973) was not be repeated and the film died at the box office. Jane Hitchcock, Bogdanovich's discovery, would make only one more film before calling it quits.

After a three-year hiatus, Bogdanovich returned with the critically and financially underwhelming Saint Jack (1979) for Hugh Hefner's Playboy Productions Inc. Bogdanovich's long affair with Cybill Shepherd had ended in 1978, but the production deal making Hugh Hefner the film's producer was part of the settlement of a lawsuit Shepherd had filed against Hefner for publishing nude photos of her pirated from a print of The Last Picture Show (1971) in Playboy Magazine. Bogdanovich then launched the film that would be his career Waterloo, They All Laughed (1981), a low-budget ensemble comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and the 1980 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Dorothy Stratten. During the filming of the picture, Bogdanovich fell in love with Stratten, who was married to an emotionally unstable hustler, Paul Snider, who relied on her financially. Stratten moved in with Bogdanovich, and when she told Snider she was leaving him, he shot and killed her, then committed suicide.

They All Laughed (1981) could not attract a distributor due to the negative publicity surrounding the Stratten murder, despite it being one of the few films made by the legendary Audrey Hepburn after her provisional retirement in 1967 (the film would prove to be Hepburn's last starring role in a theatrically released motion picture). The heartbroken Bogdanovich bought the rights to the negative so that it would be seen by the public, but the film had a limited release, garnered weak reviews and cost Bogdanovich millions of dollars, driving the emotionally devastated director into bankruptcy.

Bogdanovich turned back to his first avocation, writing, to pen a memoir of his dead love, "The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten (1960-1980)" that was published in 1984. The book was a riposte to Teresa Carpenter's "Death of a Playmate" article written for The Village Voice that had won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize. Carpenter had lambasted Bogdanovich and Hugh Hefner, claiming that Stratten was as much a victim of them as she was of Paul Snider. The article served as the basis of Bob Fosse's film Star 80 (1983), in which Bogdanovich was portrayed as the fictional director "Aram Nicholas".

Bogdanovich's career as a noted director was over, and though he achieved modest success with Mask (1985), his sequel to his greatest success The Last Picture Show (1971), Texasville (1990), was a critical and box office disappointment. He directed two more theatrical films in 1992 and 1993, but their failure kept him off the big screen until 2001's The Cat's Meow (2001). Returning once again to a reworking of the past, this time the alleged murder of director Thomas H. Ince by Welles' bete noir William Randolph Hearst, The Cat's Meow (2001) was a modest critical success but a flop at the box office. In addition to helming some television movies, Bogdanovich has returned to acting, with a recurring guest role on the cable television series The Sopranos (1999) as Dr. Jennifer Melfi's analyst.

Bogdanovich's personal reputation suffered from gossip about his 13-year marriage to Dorothy Stratten's 19-year-old-kid sister Louise Stratten, who was 29 years his junior. Some gossip held that Bogdanovich's behavior was akin to that of the James Stewart character in Alfred Hitchcock's necrophiliac masterpiece Vertigo (1958), with the director trying to remold Stratten into the image of her late sister. The marriage ended in divorce in 2001.

Now in his early eighties, Bogdanovich has arguably imitated his hero Orson Welles, but in an unintended fashion, as filmmaker who never regained the acclaim bestowed on their first major success. However, unlike the widely acclaimed master Welles, the orbit of Bogdanovich's reputation has never recovered from the apogee it reached briefly in the early 1970s.

There has been speculation that Peter Bogdanovich's ruin as a director was guaranteed when he ditched his wife and artistic collaborator Polly Platt for Cybill Shepherd. Platt had worked with Bogdanovich on all his early successes, and some critics believe that the controlling artistic consciousness on The Last Picture Show (1971) was Platt's. Parting company with Platt after Paper Moon (1973), Bogdanovich promptly slipped from the heights of a wunderkind to a has-been pursuing epic folly, as evidenced by Daisy Miller (1974) and At Long Last Love (1975).

In 1998 the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress named The Last Picture Show (1971) to the National Film Registry, an honor awarded only to the most culturally significant films.

Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney had little formal education and at the age of 15 was sent to Miami to live with his brother, in order to forestall a growing tendency toward delinquency. In the U.S., he experienced the racial chasm that divides the country, a great shock to a boy coming from a society with a majority of African descent.

At 18, he went to New York, did menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet. A brief stint in the Army as a worker at a veterans' hospital was followed by more menial jobs in Harlem. An impulsive audition at the American Negro Theatre was rejected so forcefully that Poitier dedicated the next six months to overcoming his accent and improving his performing skills. On his second try, he was accepted. Spotted in rehearsal by a casting agent, he won a bit part in the Broadway production of "Lysistrata", for which he earned good reviews. By the end of 1949, he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950). His performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles. Nevertheless, the roles were still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained. But seven years later, after turning down several projects he considered demeaning, Poitier got a number of roles that catapulted him into a category rarely if ever achieved by an African-American man of that time, that of leading man. One of these films, The Defiant Ones (1958), earned Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field (1963), the first African American to win for a leading role.

He remained active on stage and screen as well as in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. His roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and To Sir, with Love (1967) were landmarks in helping to break down some social barriers between blacks and whites. Poitier's talent, conscience, integrity, and inherent likability placed him on equal footing with the white stars of the day. He took on directing and producing chores in the 1970s, achieving success in both arenas.

Raymond Cornelius Boyle, frequently credited as Dirk London, was an American small part character actor of the 1950s. Predominantly active on the small screen, he became best known for playing Morgan Earp (1851-1882) in fifteen episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), starring Hugh O'Brian as the eponymous gunfighter. Boyle found steady work in a staple of early western and police shows, including some recurring appearances in Gang Busters (1952), Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (1955), Highway Patrol (1955) and Gunsmoke (1955). A rare higher profile role saw him cast as a gangster colluding with Martians in Republic's hilarious serial Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) (Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy -- then very much at the beginning of his career -- can be glimpsed as one of the zombies!).

After his retirement from acting, Boyle worked as production designer/art director on a couple of films in the 1970s. His second wife (from 1954) was the actress Jan Shepard.

Vitaliano Trevisan was born on 12 December 1960 in Sandrigo, Veneto, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for Primo amore (2004), Still Life (2007) and Senza lasciare traccia (2016). He died on 7 January 2022 in Crespadoro, Veneto, Italy.

Actor and bodybuilder Mark Forest was born in Brooklyn as Lorenzo Luis Degni, a third generation Italian-American (his grandparents hailed from Naples). He began as a bodybuilder at the tender age of thirteen, found himself featured on the cover of magazines and soon operated his own gym on Long Island. He entered and won several bodybuilding competitions before finding his way into show business via Mae West's troupe of musclemen (who featured as ladies' eye candy in her touring act along with the singers and dancers). West's entourage variously included other luminaries of the muscular fraternity, such as Ed Fury, Gordon Mitchell and Reg Lewis.

Mark Forest came to international fame after being recruited to star in Italian peplum (sword and sandal) epics, becoming only the second American actor (after Steve Reeves) to find lucrative work and popularity in that medium. His success was greatly helped by the fact that he was already fluent in Italian. Forest's film career spanned a modest five years (1960-1965), in the course of which he starred in a dozen pictures. Most often, he portrayed either Hercules or the equally brawny hero Maciste, created by Gabriele D'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. In fact, Forest played Maciste seven times - more than any other actor.

At the end of his brief fling with the movies, Forest turned to his other passion and reinvented himself as an opera singer (tenor) in Europe. He became adept at the bel canto technique, trained by Giovanni Milillo, a composer and former tenor at the New York Opera and father of operatic soprano Aprile Millo. After his return to the U.S., Forest settled in California, latterly teaching vocal technique in Studio City.

Michael Lang was born on 11 December 1944 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer, known for Bottle Rocket (1996), The Master and Margarita and A Bright Light: Karen and the Process (2018). He was married to Tamara Pajic and Jayne Ann Bell. He died on 8 January 2022 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

Vladimir Zaychuk was born on 4 November 1937. He was an actor, known for Wild Wind (1985), Posledniy gaiduk (1973) and Sergey Lazo (1967). He died on 8 January 2022.

Stanislav Rudolf was born on 16 February 1932 in Jicín, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a writer, known for Kopretiny pro zámeckou paní (1981), Operace me dcery (1986) and Atomová katedrála (1985). He died on 8 January 2022 in Brandýs nad Labem, Czech Republic.

Blond, boyishly handsome Dwayne Hickman, the younger brother of Darryl Hickman, followed in his sibling's tiny footsteps as a moppet film actor himself. Born Dwayne Bernard Hickman in Los Angeles on May 18, 1934, the brothers had a younger sister as well, Deidre (born 1940). He had minor roles in such films as Captain Eddie (1945) (Darryl had a major role in this), The Secret Heart (1946), The Boy with Green Hair (1948), Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Happy Years (1950) (again with Darryl in a major role), and topped his youthful film career as "Nip Worden" in the canine movie series "Rusty", which began with The Son of Rusty (1947) and ended with Rusty's Birthday (1949).

Graduating from Cathedral High School in 1952 (Darryl graduated from the same school in 1948), Dwayne enrolled at Loyola Marymount University. He returned to Hollywood following college studies and, unlike his brother, focused strongly on television work, making appearances on such series as Public Defender (1954), The Loretta Young Show (1953), The Lone Ranger (1949), and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952). He also appeared in the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward comedy film Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) playing the secondary teen couple with Tuesday Weld. He grabbed major comedy attention, especially from young female baby-boomers, as Chuck, the girl-crazy nephew, in The Bob Cummings Show (1955). (Cummings became his mentor.)

Hickman then played the titular lovesick title high school teen in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959), the role for which he is best known, and in which he was reunited with Tuesday Weld as the prime object of his attention, although Weld did not remain with the series for the entirety of its run. Laying low for a few years, Hickman returned to the screen, making a strong impression in the western film Cat Ballou (1965), and then began hanging out with the young beach crowd in several AIP movies including Ski Party (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), and a few slapstick comedies such as Sergeant Dead Head (1965) and Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! (1967). He guested on a mix of comedic and dramatic TV shows including Combat! (1962), Mod Squad (1968), Ellery Queen (1975), The Flying Nun (1967), and Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974).

In the 1970s, Hickman began working behind the scenes as a publicist, a Las Vegas entertainment director and, most successfully, as a programming executive for CBS. He would return only occasionally to acting. He revisited his Dobie Gillis character, albeit a fully grown-up version, in such made-for-television movies as Whatever Happened to Dobie Gillis? (1977) and Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (1988). In addition to guest appearances on Murder, She Wrote (1984) and Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991), he appeared in glorified cameos in High School U.S.A. (1983), had a recurring role on Clueless (1996), and was glimpsed in Cops n Roberts (1995), A Night at the Roxbury (1998), and Angels with Angles (2005). He began episodic directing chores in the 1980's, working on such episodes as "Charles in Charge", "Designing Women", "Head of the Class", "Harry and the Hendersons", and "Sister, Sister". In 1994, he published his biography, aptly titled 'Forever Dobie'.

Thrice wed, Hickman has two children -- one by his first wife, actress/model/beauty pageant winner Carol Christensen (1963-1972) who appeared a few times on "Dobie Gillis", and the other by his present wife, actress/voiceover artist Joan Roberts, to whom he has been married since 1983.