Acting Career
Between 1973 and his death in 2002, Urich had lead or supporting roles in 19 television series and miniseries (including several documentary programs). He also regularly hosted National Geographic TV specials and the National Geographic Explorer documentary series. He was the guest host of Saturday Night Live in March 1982. Urich made a noteworthy screen appearance opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1973 Dirty Harry film Magnum Force playing a vigilante motorcycle-patrol police officer.
Urich was the spokesman for Bayer Aspirin in 1990 and Purina dog food in 2000. In 1992, Urich hosted the CBS TV special The Bat, the Cat, and the Penguin, which was a behind-the-scenes look of the upcoming motion picture Batman Returns. Most of his TV series were short-lived, although several, such as Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire, proved to be successes. In 1988 he made a cameo appearance as 'himself' in an episode of Cheers, which was Boston-based like his own series 'Spenser'. In the 1990s, Urich reprised the role of Spenser in several made-for-TV films. He also played a main character, Jake Spoon, in the acclaimed television miniseries Lonesome Dove, a role for which he received many positive reviews, as well as the lead in a 1996 Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Captains Courageous. He hosted numerous 'made-for-TV' shorts with such titles as, "When Animals Attack...."
His final TV series role was in the sitcom Emeril, in 2001.
He also appeared on stage, in the musical Chicago. He played the role of Billy Flynn on Broadway in 2000, and also was in the North American tour of the musical, in 1999 and in 2000.
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