Award-winning actor John Hillerman, best known as Jonathan Higgins, the sidekick to TV’s Magnum P.I., died Thursday in Houston.

Hillerman was 84, and no cause of death was given.

Hillerman was a stage and screen veteran when he took on the role that made him one of television’s most familiar faces and voices.

Magnum P.I. starred Tom Selleck as a detective based in Hawaii. Hillerman played the caretaker of the resort out of which Magnum operated. It ran from 1980 until 1988 and earned Hillerman an Emmy as best supporting actor.

Before Magnum made him a star, Hillerman proved to be adept at both comedy and drama on the stage, on television and in films, including the slapstick Blazing Saddles and dark detective drama Chinatown.
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