Star of "The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis' Dies

Dwayne Hickman, an actor who portrayed the lovesick teenager Dobie Gillis in a popular sitcom of the 1950s and 1960s, creating an enduring and memorable TV character who remains alive in syndicated reruns, died Jan. 9 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87.

The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, his publicist, Harlan Boll, said in a statement.

Mr. Hickman had been a child actor in the 1940s who had tagged along beside his then-better-known older brother, actor Darryl Hickman. He had small roles in several films before landing a part in “The Bob Cummings Show” (also called “Love That Bob”) in 1955. He said he learned almost everything he knew about acting from the affable, ever-smiling Cummings, who had been a movie star since the 1930s.

Although he was already in his 20s at the time, Mr. Hickman seemed to personify a generation of teenagers then coming of age in Middle America. When “The Bob Cummings Show” left the air in 1959, Mr. Hickman stepped into his new starring role as Dobie Gillis.

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