Jon Cypher, the veteran actor who charmed millions as Prince Charming opposite Julie Andrews in the historic live TV production of Cinderella before becoming a familiar face on Hill Street Blues and Major Dad, has died. He was 94.
Cypher died Aug. 3 at his home in Central Point, Oregon, his family announced.
Over a career that stretched across television, movies and Broadway, Cypher appeared alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and built a résumé that included everything from police dramas and nighttime soaps to superhero cartoons and cult fantasy films.
But for generations of television viewers, he may be best remembered as the ambitious and often frustrating Chief of Police Fletcher Daniels on NBC’s Hill Street Blues.
Cypher appeared in 71 episodes of the acclaimed series between 1981 and 1987, regularly butting heads with Daniel J. Travanti’s Capt. Frank Furillo. Daniels was the type of bureaucrat viewers loved to hate — frequently more concerned with politics, money and protecting his own position than simply doing what was right.
Years earlier, however, Cypher had introduced himself to a massive American television audience in one of the biggest TV events of the 1950s.
A relative unknown at the time, Cypher was chosen to play Prince Charming opposite a rising Julie Andrews in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
The lavish musical aired live and in color on CBS in March 1957 and became a television sensation. More than 107 million people reportedly watched, with over 60 percent of American households tuning in.
The role gave Cypher the breakthrough that would launch a career lasting decades.
Born in New York City on Jan. 13, 1932, Cypher attended Erasmus Hall High School on Flatbush Avenue before graduating from Brooklyn College in 1953.
Three years later, he appeared in summer stock productions at the Elitch Theatre in Denver.
Following Cinderella, Cypher made his Broadway debut in 1958 in Harvey Breit’s The Disenchanted.
He returned to Broadway in 1961 as an understudy for Patrick O’Neal in the original production of Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana before eventually taking over the role of the Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon.
His Broadway career also included major parts in some of the theater’s best-known productions.
Cypher played Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, performed several roles in The Great White Hope and portrayed Thomas Jefferson in 1776.
When once asked how he prepared to play Jefferson, Cypher joked that his research consisted of looking at a nickel.
His film career included a memorable turn in the 1971 Western Valdez Is Coming, where he played a ruthless rancher opposite Burt Lancaster and Susan Clark.
A new generation of fans discovered him in 1987 when he played the heroic Man-at-Arms in the cult fantasy movie Masters of the Universe, starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man.
Cypher later proved he could handle broad sitcom comedy as Brigadier Gen. Marcus Craig on Major Dad.
He appeared in 69 episodes during the CBS comedy’s final three seasons from 1990 through 1993 alongside Gerald McRaney.
Soap opera and nighttime drama fans knew him well, too.
Cypher played record producer Jeff Munson on Knots Landing in 1982 and 1983. His character listened to aspiring singer Ciji Dunne, played by Lisa Hartman, and also offered Kenny and Ginger Ward — played by James Houghton and Kim Lankford — jobs in Nashville that gave them an opportunity to leave the infamous Seaview Circle cul-de-sac.
He later appeared as attorney Dirk Maurier on Dynasty between 1983 and 1987, playing a lawyer whose ethics were often questionable.
Cypher also racked up appearances on daytime soaps including As the World Turns, General Hospital and Santa Barbara.
His long list of television credits included Nanny and the Professor, The Doris Day Show, Mannix, Bonanza, McMillan & Wife, The F.B.I., Bronk, The Rockford Files, Police Woman, Hunter, JAG and Law & Order.
He also entered the world of animation, providing the voice of the villain Spellbinder on Batman Beyond.
Despite his impressive body of work, Cypher never pretended acting was an easy way to make a living.
In a 2014 interview, he warned younger performers that the profession came with constant rejection and criticism.
Acting, he said, meant always being judged by critics and audiences, and he advised aspiring performers to prepare themselves because they would have to pick themselves back up “many, many, many times.”
Cypher’s talents went far beyond acting.
His family said he could sing opera in four languages and was known for suddenly bursting into song and entertaining those around him.
He also became an author later in life.
In 2019, Cypher published a book of limericks titled If You’re Not Depressed You Oughta Be in Therapy.
His family said the actor also held some unconventional beliefs and was outspoken about what he viewed as the need to acknowledge the truth surrounding “non-threatening extra-terrestrials and their crafts.”
Cypher’s final resting place will also reflect the distinctive way he chose to live.
He is scheduled to be buried Tuesday at Forest Conservation Burial Ground in Ashland, Oregon.
According to his family, Cypher wanted to be laid to rest beneath tall trees in a meadow while wrapped only in a natural, biodegradable shroud — fulfilling his wish to ultimately “return to nature.”
From playing a fairy-tale prince opposite Julie Andrews to battling bureaucracy on Hill Street Blues and stepping into the fantasy world of Masters of the Universe, Cypher spent more than half a century becoming one of those unmistakable faces American television viewers seemed to encounter everywhere.
He was 94.
