NYPD BLUE: A SENTIMENTAL REUNION
Not only was NYPD Blue a long running show, but the crew and much of the cast stayed with the series from beginning to end and became great friends. It’s been off the air for two years and most of the people involved on the show haven’t seen each other since. Former producer Bill Clark organized a big reunion the other night at the Buca di Beppo Italian restaurant at Universal Citywalk. It was a surprise party for Ray Latulipe, who played a recurring detective, Josh Astrachan, on the show for 59 episodes and was recently diagnosed with cancer. Ray was with the show from beginning to end – when he wasn’t acting on it he was working off-camera doing a variety of things like taking people on tours of the set or collecting bets for sporting events pools. So everybody knew Ray. When they heard he was sick they got together and threw him a big party – over a hundred people showed up. Jimmy Smits and his girlfriend Wanda de Jesus, Dennis Franz, Henry Simmons, Gordon Clapp, Jacqueline Obredors, and Kim Delaney – who couldn’t make it so she sent her parents. Everyone from crew and production staff to directors, producers, and stars enjoyed the sentimental get-together and Ray went home with a pocketful of money they collected for him.