Mr. Sikking played Jim Remington, one of two men who interview Mr. David and his wife (Cheryl Hines) at a country club dominated by white Anglo-Saxon Protestant Republicans. Wearing a yellow polo shirt and a blue blazer, Mr. Sikking’s character asks, in a clipped manner, such questions as “You feel comfortable here?” and, referring to a schooner, “Do you sail it yourself or do you have a captain?”
Later, Mr. Sikking’s character runs into Larry at a baseball game with a prostitute, prompting Mr. Sikking, displaying his expertise in expressions of propriety, to look right down his patrician nose at both of them.
James Barrie Sikking was born on March 5, 1934, in Los Angeles. His father, Arthur, was a structural engineer, and his mother, Sue (Paxton) Sikking, was the founder and minister of Unity by the Sea Church in Santa Monica.
He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a bachelor’s degree in theater in 1959; his education was delayed by two periods of Army service at Fort Bragg in North Carolina (now called Fort Liberty). While in the Army, he proposed to Florine Caplan. They married in 1962.
Although Mr. Sikking was known mainly for his TV work, he also appeared, usually in small roles, in dozens of movies, including “Fever Pitch” (2005), starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon; “Ordinary People” (1980), directed by Robert Redford; and “Charro!” (1969), one of Elvis Presley’s last cinematic vehicles.
He is survived by his wife; a son, Andrew; a daughter, Emily Sikking; and four grandchildren.
“There’s a wonderfully childish quality about this business,” Mr. Sikking told The Times about being an actor in 1989. “We are players, and our basic job is to make you laugh or cry or scare you — to make you feel. If we make you think, that’s an extra bonus.”
Read More: James B. Sikking, Actor Best Known for ‘Hill Street Blues,’ Dies at 90
