Adam 12 Star Martin Milner Dies at 83

Martin Milner, the star of the 1960s-70s police drama Adam 12, died on Sunday at his home in Carlsbad, California. He was 83 years old.

Already an established film actor, Milner first rose to fame in 1960, when he took a lead role in the TV series Route 66. In the series, Milner starred alongside George Maharis; the pair played a couple of footloose young bachelors who wandered aimlessly around the country in a brand-new Corvette. The series lasted four seasons and achieved a great deal of success, making its stars household names.

Milner is perhaps better known for his work on Adam 12, a project created by actor/producer Jack Webb. Webb's goal was to create a realistic portrayal of the daily life of a couple of LAPD patrol officers, and the show's episodes followed the sometimes mundane routine of police on the street. Milner played Pete Malloy, a veteran officer who is teamed up with an eager rookie, Jim Reed, played by Kent McCord. Adam 12 ran from 1968 to 1975 on NBC.

Milner continued to act, primarily in guest roles in TV series, through the 1990s, and he worked as a talk-radio disc jockey into the 2000s.