Kevin Arkadie, the writer and two-time Emmy-nominated producer who teamed with Dick Wolf to create New York Undercover and worked on such other series as NYPD Blue, Chicago Hope and The Shield, has died. He was 68.
Arkadie lived in Los Angeles and died Wednesday, relatives on social media announced. In July, he posted a video on Instagram noting that he was dealing with kidney failure.
“This man right here was one of America’s greatest storytellers,” cousin and producer L True Green wrote on Facebook. “He has forever changed the landscape of creativity … he is the reason I have remained in the arts as a writer today.”
New York Undercover, which ran for four seasons on Fox from 1994-99, was the first police drama with Black and Latino leads (played by Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo, respectively).
Arkadie was nominated for an Emmy in 1996 and 1998 for the coveted outstanding drama series prize for producing Chicago Hope and NYPD Blue, and he won a WGA America Award for his work on the Noggin series Miracle’s Boys in 2006.
Born in Washington on Dec. 10, 1957, Arkadie moved to Maryland and then to Dallas, where he graduated with a BFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. He settled in Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment and landed a staff job as a writer on the 1991-93 NBC drama series I’ll Fly Away.
His other credits included Knightwatch, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Law & Order, High Incident, Rescue 77, The Temptations, Ambitions, The Quad and Sacrifice.
Two-time Tony-winning producer Lamar Richardson, who recently worked with Arkadie on Freeman Ranch — a TV drama in development about a family that runs the first Black-owned ranch in Texas — paid tribute to Arkadie in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
“Kevin was the first showrunner to sign on to one of our TV projects at Ivy Lion, and we spent a lot of time with him developing and pitching together this year,” he said. “He was a consummate professional, true collaborator and astute researcher. Everything was always in service of telling the best story.
“It’s not lost on us that he was willing to say yes to a young production company and newer writer in an industry where first chances are seldom given freely. It was important to him to invest in the next generation of diverse voices, and we are extremely grateful to have partnered with him.”
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