I’m very saddened by the passing away, at the age of 85, of Robert Loggia, one of the most recognizable faces of both cinema and television.

When I was a kid, Loggia was one of my personal heroes as the titular character in T.H.E. Cat, an old TV series (1966-1967) I used to watch on some local station.

It was most cool.

The series was a brain child of Harry Julian Fink, that would go on to create the character of Dirty Harry.
In the series, Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat was a former cat burglar, that now worked as a bodyguard.

“Out of the night comes a man who saves lives at the risk of his own. Once a circus performer, an aerialist who refused the net. Once a cat burglar, a master among jewel thieves. Now a professional bodyguard. Primitive… savage… in love with danger. The Cat!”

It was a noir-tinged series, full of dark alleys, smoky night clubs and dangerous characters. It also featured real (or at least realistic) martial arts and a very tough, smart attitude.
It was the sort of show that a teenager like me could only love.