Kevin Arkadie, the co-creator of Fox cop drama series New York Undercover, died this week. Arkadie, who was 68, died on December 17. The nature of his death is unclear.
Arkadie also worked on series including CBS’ Chicago Hope, ABC’s NYPD Blue and FX’s The Shield as well as, more recently, BET series including Sacrifice and The Quad.
His first TV staff role was on NBC drama I’ll Fly Away, which starred Regina Taylor as a Black housekeeper in the late 1950s for the family of a district attorney, played by Sam Waterston. It ran for two seasons between 1991 and 1993.
He then co-created New York Undercover with Dick Wolf. The series, which he also wrote and produced, was notable for being the first U.S. cop drama to feature two people of color – Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo. He went on to serve as a writer and producer on Chicago Hope, a supervising producer on NYPD Blue and co-executive producer on The Shield.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he moved to Maryland, then Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from Lake Highlands High School. He started as a film major at Southern Methodist University before switching to theater and earning a BFA in acting.
His first writing assignment was on ABC drama Knightwatch before working on Fox’s Alien Nation.
In addition to writing NBC mini-series The Temptations, about the Motown group, he was showrunner for two season of BET’s Sacrifice, showrunner of OWN’s Ambitions, co-exec producer of BET’s The Quad and OWN’s Greenleaf and showrunner and co-creator of Media for TV One.
He won two Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series for Chicago Hope and NYPD Blue.
A keen cyclist and photographer, Arkadie was sanguine about his journey. “If everything ended today, I did good. … Mine is a long story of success, but even so, I still took it up the ass more than I wanted,” he told his wife.
Stan Spry, who was Arkadie’s manager and runs Evoke Entertainment, said, “Kevin was a tremendous talent and a trailblazer. More importantly he was a beautiful person and a friend. His impact on television will not be forgotten, nor will his impact on the lives of those who loved him. He will be greatly missed.”
Arkadie is survived by his wife and family. A celebration of life is being planned for spring 2026.