<Li> Terri Erwin (1989--91) </Li> <Li> Bill Taub (1991) </Li> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Actor </Th> <Th> Role </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Carroll O'Connor </Td> <Td> Starred in the lead role of William O. "Bill" Gillespie . Gillespie was a tough but honorable small city police chief . At first somewhat resentful of Virgil Tibbs, Gillespie would later become very close to Virgil and the rest of the Tibbs family . It should be noted that their relationship in the TV series is much less adversarial than it is in the film version . For the first six seasons he was the chief of the Sparta Police Department until he was fired by the city council at the beginning of the 7th season . He would then become interim County Sheriff after the previous Sheriff became too ill to continue his duties . Gillespie would become the permanent Sheriff by the end of the series . Chief Gillespie was a World War 2 Veteran and identified himself as serving with a colored man in the 227th Military Police (it is assumed the 227th was a colored unit and Gillespie was the commanding officer). Gillespie had a penchant for wearing high - powered sidearms such as the Colt Python and later a brushed chrome Desert Eagle . Gillespie was married at one time to Anna, his Italian war bride whom he brought home from his WWII service in Italy . Anna became pregnant - both she and their son would die in childbirth . He also had an older daughter Lana, played by Christine Elise . Gillespie eventually fell in love with Harriett DeLong . Throughout the series run, O'Connor was one of the actors to appear in every episode of the series on both networks (NBC) and (CBS), with the exception of four shows near the end of the 1988 - 89 season that he missed while recovering from open heart surgery . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Howard Rollins </Td> <Td> Starred in the lead role of Virgil Tibbs . Virgil had grown up in Sparta but later moved north and became a police detective in Philadelphia, PA . He would later return to Sparta after being offered a job as chief of detectives and the rank of Captain with the city police department . At first Tibbs and Gillespie butted heads, but would soon become close friends - Gillespie even became Godfather to Virgil and Althea's twins . Tibbs also initially clashed with Bubba early in the series, but after helping Bubba clear his name during a case where he was falsely accused of rape, they became good friends as well . Even though some city council members wanted to make him chief, Tibbs firmly rebuffed their offers, preferring to work with Gillespie . After continued legal problems, Rollins was dropped from the series in 1993, and Tibbs was written out of the series as having left the community following his graduation from law school and becoming an attorney in private practice . Rollins would return as a guest star several times during the 7th season in his new profession, attorney at law . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Alan Autry </Td> <Td> Played Virgil Lawrence "Bubba" Skinner . At first Bubba was something of a redneck . Intimidating and physically powerful, he was never afraid to use force when needed, but despite his rough exterior, he was a good man deep down . He was also a sort of ladies' man around Sparta, as he always seemed to have a new girlfriend . He was known to turn female heads - including that of Althea Tibbs who refers to him as a "hunk ." Bubba was deeply resentful of Virgil's presence on the police force at first, clashing with him on several occasions . He eventually became close friends with the Tibbs family, particularly after Virgil helped clear his name in a false allegation of rape . As the series progresses, Bubba is shown to be a brave and honorable man who is more complex and intelligent than people give him credit for . Through the course of the series, Bubba became more racially tolerant, referring to bigots and racists as "knotheads ." Bubba was also from a large family, and was shown several times during the series to be an expert shot with a rifle . When the Sparta police needed a sniper (such as when Captain Tibbs's wife Althea was taken hostage in the episode "...And then you die,") it was Skinner who took the shot with a scoped rifle kept in the trunk of his squad car . Bubba carried a Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver in his belt holster like most of the other Sparta police officers . In Season 1, Bubba's rank seemed to be patrolman but was never explicitly stated . By Season 2's premiere he was a Sergeant . Eventually he rose to the rank of Captain before Gillespie left the Sparta Police . In Season 5, it is revealed that Bubba's first and middle initials are V.L. Bubba also always wore "white socks" with his uniform . Bubba usually was the one who was asked to arrest the tougher suspects due to his large size and immense strength . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Anne - Marie Johnson </Td> <Td> Starred as Virgil's wife, teacher and counselor Althea Tibbs . She starred in that role for six seasons . Althea's life in Sparta was difficult--she was raped at the beginning of the third season, and later suffered a mental breakdown after witnessing the suicide of one of her students . Althea did not reappear for the 7th season, and her character was written out as Althea had been separated from Virgil and moved back to Pennsylvania . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Lois Nettleton </Td> <Td> Played Joanne St. John from 1988 to 1989 . She was the owner of the Magnolia Cafe, a popular eatery in Sparta (as seen in the show's opening). After it was revealed that Joanne was once a prostitute, she eventually left Sparta . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> David Hart </Td> <Td> Played Parker Williams . He was a very perceptive character . He genuinely loved the people of Sparta whom he had sworn to serve and protect, and he often sensed when someone was hurting . Parker knew everybody in town and was able to get through to them because of his kindness . Parker generally sat behind the dispatcher's desk, handling the telephone and radio, although he also was assigned to patrol duty . In 1994, he rose to the rank of Senior Sergeant . Parker was a Vietnam veteran, as explained in the episode "My Name is Hank ." As a comic relief, Parker always had a Mason jar of sweet tea on his desk, including when he was at the Tibbs's house for Christmas in the episode "Blessings ." Parker can be seen holding his tea jar with a Christmas bow stuck on it . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Christian LeBlanc </Td> <Td> Portrayed Junior Abernathy, a patrolman seen only during Season 1 . Junior was a young and inexperienced policeman who often was chastised by Detective Tibbs or Chief Gillespie for not knowing proper police procedure . However, Junior often rose to the occasion to assist in arrests or at other incidents in Sparta . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Geoffrey Thorne </Td> <Td> Joined the cast as Wilson Sweet in 1988 . Aside from Tibbs, Sweet was one of the first black men to join the force . His ambition was to rise in the ranks of the Sparta police force and become Sparta's first black Police Chief - a part which was eventually played by Carl Weathers . The character disappeared in Season 7 after Thorne left the show and was never mentioned again . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Hugh O'Connor </Td> <Td> Played the role of Lonnie Jamison, an officer and senior investigator on the Sparta police force . Lonnie eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant and Acting Chief of Detectives . Lonnie was a very capable officer and took his job seriously . He usually had a serious and straightforward personality, with a dry humor that always fit the moment, and he was an amiable and friendly person overall . One of the many facets of Lonnie's character was fierce, never - give - up loyalty to his friends . A prime example of that loyalty occurred over several episodes as Lonnie's friendship with Harriet DeLong's son Eugene . Lonnie was Eugene's track team coach at Sparta High, and it was Lonnie Jamison who was able to get through to the young man when Eugene's father was being tried for murder, episode "No Other Road ." Later, in "A Small War," when Eugene's friend was killed in a drive - by at a drug pusher's house, Lonnie tried to convince Eugene to talk about what he had witnessed . Eugene resisted, testing Lt. Jamison's patience, but when Eugene agreed to help the police identify the shooter, it was Lonnie who drove him up to Jackson . Actually, Lonnie let Eugene drive, and they took Jamison's Corvette . That scene was another example of Lonnie helping to get through to Eugene . Lonnie was a crack shot with a rifle and was often selected by Chief Gillespie to handle a situation requiring a long range rifle shot, as in episodes "My Name is Hank," "An Eye for An Eye," and "CrackDown ." Along with Bubba, the Sparta Police had a very lethal sniper team . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Carl Weathers </Td> <Td> Joined the cast in the final season as Police Chief Hampton Forbes . He was picked to lead the department after the controversial firing of Bill Gillespie . Forbes was the first black chief of the department and a 20 - year veteran of the Memphis, TN, police department, serving in one of the four police districts in the city of Memphis . He retired from the MPD to become the new Police Chief in Sparta . Forbes became friends with Gillespie and often worked closely with him when Gillespie became county sheriff . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Crystal R. Fox </Td> <Td> Played Luanne Corbin . After the first black woman to join the force, Officer Christine Rankin, died in the line of duty on her first day on the job, Corbin was recruited to take her place . Crystal was featured in the episode "Singin' the Blues," which gave her the opportunity to display her talent as a singer as well as a fine actress . Her beautiful singing voice was also featured in the episode "Odessa," where she sang the Gospel song "Jesus Savior, Pilot Me ." </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Denise Nicholas </Td> <Td> Played Sparta City Council woman Harriet DeLong . Harriet's relationship with Chief Gillespie was deeply adversarial in the beginning, and the two clashed often when she first appeared on the show . But over the course of the series, Harriet saw Gillespie's softer, more caring side and began to think more fondly of him . By the time Denise Nicholas became a series regular, Harriet and Gillespie were becoming a couple, much to the disapproval of her son, Eugene . In the two - part episode, "Citizen Trundel," Harriet's sister, Natalie was the mistress of conniving businessman, V.J. Trundel, who later had her murdered . They had a son named Eric from their illicit affair, and Harriet eventually gained custody of him after Trundel committed suicide by deliberately crashing his private airplane after a confrontation about the murder with Gillespie . Emily Trundel, V.J.'s estranged widow, attempted to gain custody of Eric in the following season, but only succeeded in gaining visitation rights, something Harriet deeply opposed . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Randall Franks </Td> <Td> Played Officer Randy Goode (1988--1993) Randy Goode began his work on the series as a partner to Wilson Sweet in "The Creek;" he soon began driving Chief Gillespie and Detective Tibbs around . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Harvey E. Lee Jr . </Td> <Td> Played Officer Ken Covey . (Joined the show in the sixth season .) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Mark Johnson </Td> <Td> Played Officer Luke Everett . (Joined the show in the sixth season .) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Actor </Th> <Th> Role </Th> </Tr>

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