Everybody Loves Raymond actor Robert Culp dies

Everybody Loves Raymond actor Robert Culp dies
Everybody Loves Raymond actor Robert Culp dies (Image credit: AP/Press Association Images)

Robert Culp, the actor who teamed with Bill Cosby in the racially groundbreaking TV series I Spy, has died after collapsing outside his Hollywood home, his manager said. Manager Hillard Elkins said the 79-year-old actor, who was Bob in the critically acclaimed comedy Bob And Carol And Ted And Alice, was on a walk when he fell. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The actor's son was told he died of a heart attack, Elkins said, although police were unsure if the fall was medically related. Los Angeles police Lt Robert Binder said no foul play was suspected. Binder said a jogger found Culp, who apparently fell and struck his head. I Spy greatly advanced the careers of Culp and Cosby and forged a lifelong friendship. Cosby said Culp was like an older brother to him. "The first born in every family is always dreaming of the older brother or sister he or she doesn't have, to protect, to be the buffer, provide the wisdom, shoulder the blows and make things right," he said. "Bob was the answer to my dreams. No matter how many mistakes I made on I Spy, he was always there to teach and protect me," Cosby said. Candace Culp, the actor's ex-wife, said she was devastated. "He was a wonderful, creative man who contributed so much to his business, as an actor, as a writer, as a director," she said. Robert Culp lately had been working on writing screenplays, Elkins said. He also starred in 1980s hit series The Greatest American Hero and, more recently, Everybody Loves Raymond.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.