Peggy Lipton, co-star of TV hit ‘The Mod Squad,’ dies
Actress and former model Peggy Lipton, who rose to stardom in the late 1960s on the counterculture police series “The Mod Squad” and later starred on TV’s “Twin Peaks,” has died.
Her death from cancer was announced Saturday by Kidada and Rashida Jones, her daughters from her marriage to music producer Quincy Jones.
“She made her journey peacefully with her daughters and nieces by her side,” Lipton’s daughters said in a statement. “We feel so lucky for every moment we spent with her.”
Born in New York on Aug. 30, 1946, Lipton began modeling at age 15 and quickly found herself in demand. At age 19, she made her television debut on the sitcom “The John Forsythe Show,” going on to make appearances on “Bewitched,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour” and “The Virginian.”
The waifish, blond Lipton had just turned 21 when she rocketed to fame in 1968 as the street-smart flower child Julie Barnes, one of a trio of Los Angeles undercover “hippie cops” on the ABC crime series “The Mod Squad.”
One of pop culture’s first efforts to reckon seriously with the counterculture — and one of the first TV shows to feature an interracial cast — the series, which costarred Michael Cole and Clarence Williams III, dealt with issues such as domestic violence, abortion, police brutality, the Vietnam War and drugs. Over five seasons, the series earned Lipton four Emmy nominations and a 1971 Golden Globe award for best actress in a TV drama.
Her role and later marriage to Jones, who is black, put Lipton at the center of the passions of a restive America dealing with racism and a post-World War II generation who were breaking free from their parents. The Mod Squad’s edgy music and hip slang marked a significant shift from shows like “Gunsmoke” and “Leave It to Beaver.” But Lipton found the...