Blue Bloods Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.