Charles Kimbrough, “Murphy Brown” star, dies at age 86

Charles Kimbrough, a Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor who played a straight-laced news anchor opposite Candice Bergen on “Murphy Brown,” died Jan. 11 in Culver City, California, his son confirmed Sunday. He was 86.

Kimbrough played newsman Jim Dial across the 10 seasons of CBS hit sitcom “Murphy Brown” between 1988 and 1998, earning an Emmy nomination in 1990 for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series. He reprised the role for three episodes in the 2018 reboot.

The New York Times first reported his death.

Kimbrough’s wife, actor Beth Howland, who played diner server Vera on the 1970s and ’80s CBS sitcom “Alice,” died in 2016. They married in 2002, more than a decade after his 1991 divorce from his first wife, Mary Jane (Wilson) Kimbrough, who died in 2007.

The Times reports that Kimbrough is survived by a sister, Linda Kimbrough, a son, John Kimbrough, and a stepdaughter, Holly Howland.

Born May 23, 1936, Kimbrough spent years in the New York theater scene. He was nominated for a Tony in 1971 for his Broadway performance in the Steven Sondheim musical “Company.”

But what made him a household face was the part on “Murphy Brown,” his son told the Times, where he played the stuffy newsman from a different generation than the title character. 

Kimbrough also lent his voice to a gargoyle named Victor in Disney’s animated film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”