James A. Luisi was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player and actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

. Luisi is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Doug Chapman during Seasons 3 through 6 of the television series The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...

.

Career

Born in East Harlem

Spanish Harlem

East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem and El Barrio, is a section of Harlem in the northeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Luisi attended St. Francis College on a basketball scholarship before playing with the Baltimore Bullets from 1953 to 1954. At 6'2" (1.88 m) and 180 lb (82 kg), he played guard. Luisi then attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts

American Academy of Dramatic Arts

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...

, and appeared on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in productions of Alfie and Do I Hear a Waltz?

Do I Hear a Waltz?

Do I Hear a Waltz? is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Richard Rodgers, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was adapted from Laurents' 1952 play The Time of the Cuckoo, which was the basis for the 1955 film Summertime starring Katharine Hepburn.-Background:Laurents originally...

, and the original 1966 production of Sweet Charity

Sweet Charity

Sweet Charity is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon. It is based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria...

.

Luisi went on to appear in various television programs such as Naked City

Naked City (TV series)

Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format....

, Adam-12

Adam-12

Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...

, The Rookies

The Rookies

The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It followed the exploits of three rookie police officers in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department .-History:...

, Kojak and Barnaby Jones

Barnaby Jones

Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...

. In 1976, he won an Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 for his portrayal of George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 in the 1975 miniseries First Ladies Diaries: Martha Washington. After his Emmy win, Luisi had guest roles on Matt Houston

Matt Houston

Matt Houston is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1982 to 1985. Created by Lawrence Gordon, the series was produced by Aaron Spelling.-Synopsis:...

, Days of Our Lives

Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

, L.A. Law

L.A. Law

L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

and Silk Stalkings

Silk Stalkings

Silk Stalkings is a TV crime drama originally shown on CBS in 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming package, and rebroadcast on the USA Network. After CBS ended the Crimetime experiment in 1993, the series ran exclusively on USA until its finale in the...

. He also had roles in several films including Norma Rae

Norma Rae

Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works...

(1979) and Star 80

Star 80

Star 80 is a 1983 American film about the true story of Playboy Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her estranged husband Paul Snider in 1980...

(1983).

Death

Luisi died of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 in 2002. He is buried in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park

Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood, California.The cemetery has a special section called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for a number of aviation pioneers — barnstormers, daredevils and...

.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1967	The Tiger Makes Out The Tiger Makes Out The Tiger Makes Out is a 1967 comedy film about a kidnapper and his unintended victim, starring Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson and directed by Arthur Hiller. This is Dustin Hoffman's film debut.-Plot:...	Pete Copolla
1972	Ben	Ed
1974	The Take	Benedetto
1977	Stunts	Alvin Blake	Alternative title: Who Is Killing the Stuntmen?
1978	Moment by Moment Moment by Moment Moment by Moment is a 1978 film starring John Travolta and Lily Tomlin. The film was written and directed by Jane Wagner.-Plot:It tells the story of a romance between a young drifter named Strip Harrison and an older wealthy woman, Trish Rawlings .-Cast:*Lily Tomlin - Trisha*John Travolta -...	Dan Santini
1980	Fade to Black	Capt. M.L. Gallagher
1983	China Lake	Watch Commander
1986	Murphy's Law Murphy's Law (film) Murphy's Law is a thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by Gail Morgan Hickman. It was released by Cannon Films to the United States on April 18, 1986. The film stars Charles Bronson and Kathleen Wilhoite in lead roles with a supporting cast that includes Carrie Snodgress,...	Ed Reineke
1987	The Hidden The Hidden The Hidden is an American science fiction film produced and released in 1987 by New Line Cinema. The film was written by Bob Hunt and directed by Jack Sholder...	Ferrari Salesman
1988	Feds Feds Feds is a 1988 comedy film written and directed by Daniel Goldberg, and starring Rebecca De Mornay and Mary Gross.-Plot details:Ellie DeWitt is a former U.S. Marine who wants to become an FBI Agent. However, where she has the physical skills, she doesn't have as much success in memorizing all the...	Sperry
1989	Lethal Woman	Colonel Maxim	Alternative title: The Most Dangerous Woman Alive
1999	Wanted	Vincent Argento
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	The Rifleman The Rifleman The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...	Chuley Carr	1 episode
1963–1964	Bonanza Bonanza Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...	Willard	2 episodes
1964	The Reporter The Reporter (TV series) The Reporter is an American drama series that aired on CBS from September 25 to December 18, 1964. The series was created by Jerome Weidman and developed by executive producers Keefe Brasselle and John Simon.-Synopsis:...	Joe	1 episode
1971	The Interns	Nick	1 episode
1972	Cannon Cannon (TV series) Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976.The primary protagonist was the title character, Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad....	Sonny	1 episode
1974	Ironside Ironside (TV series) Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...	Mike Purcell	1 episode
	Mannix Mannix Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...	John Larkin	1 episode
	The Streets of San Francisco The Streets of San Francisco The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...	Lloyd Davies	1 episode
1975	S.W.A.T S.W.A.T. (TV series) ----S.W.A.T. is a 1970s American television series about the adventures of the WCPD's Olympic Division Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city....	Phil Garland	1 episode
1976	Starsky and Hutch Starsky and Hutch Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...	Carl Boyce	1 episode
	The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...	Doug	1 episode
	Good Heavens Good Heavens Good Heavens was a comedy anthology produced by Columbia Pictures Television that aired between February 29 to June 26, 1976. It ranked #17 in the Nielsen ratings during the 1975-76 television season....	Bart Matson	1 episode
1978	Wonder Woman Wonder Woman (TV series) Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....	George	1 episode
	Fantasy Island Fantasy Island Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...	Arbogast	1 episode
1979	Quincy M.E.	Marine Col. Charles Casey	1 episode
	Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series) Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....	Hood	1 episode
1980	CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol...	Lazarri	1 episode
	Here's Boomer Here's Boomer Here's Boomer is an American adventure/drama series produced by Paramount that aired on the NBC beginning in March 1980. A television movie called A Christmas for Boomer aired on December 6, 1979 and served as the pilot. The show ran for two seasons, ending its run in August 1982...	Combs	1 episode
1982	Beyond Witch Mountain Beyond Witch Mountain Beyond Witch Mountain is the second sequel to the 1975 Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain. Although Eddie Albert returned to play Jason O'Day from the original 1975 movie, the parts of Tony and Tia were recast with actors comparable only in age to Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards when they first...	Foreman	Television movie
1984	Riptide Riptide (TV series) Riptide is a TV detective series that ran on NBC from 1983 to 1986, starring Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray. Riptide was created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions. The main theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter...	Uptown Bill Brown	1 episode
	The A-Team The A-Team The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...	Jimmy Durkee	1 episode
1985	Finder of Lost Loves Finder of Lost Loves Finder of Lost Loves is an American drama series aired by the ABC network during the 1984-1985 season.-Synopsis:After Cary Maxwell's wife Kate dies, he decides to set up a private detective agency specializing in reuniting clients with a former loved one...	Jordan Hollis	1 episode
	Knight Rider	D.G. Grebs	1 episode
	The Fall Guy The Fall Guy The Fall Guy is an American action/adventure television program produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981 to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas. Majors and Barr are the only two actors to appear in all 112 episodes of the series...	Brazzi	1 episode
1987	Magnum, P.I. Magnum, P.I. Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....	John Walter Costa	1 episode
	Knots Landing Knots Landing Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...	Lieutenant Gilbert Garcia	4 episodes
1987–1988	Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (TV series) Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...	Ben Clark	11 episodes
1988	It's a Living	Roscoe	1 episode
1989	The Hogan Family The Hogan Family The Hogan Family is an American television situation comedy that aired from March 1, 1986 to July 20, 1991...	Leopold	3 episodes
1992	Tequila and Bonetti Tequila and Bonetti Tequila and Bonetti is an American comedy-drama series starring Jack Scalia. The series originally aired on CBS from January 17, 1992 to April 17, 1992...	Harry Dirday	1 episode
1996	Baywatch Nights Baywatch Nights Baywatch Nights was an American police and science fiction drama series that aired in syndication from 1995 to 1997. Created by Douglas Schwartz, David Hasselhoff, and Gregory J. Bonann, the series is a spin-off from the popular television series, Baywatch.-Synopsis:The original premise of the show...	Murray	1 episode

External links

• NBA statistics at basketball-reference.com