William Lucking

A man of hearty Midwestern stock, Lucking was a Michigan native who made good in Hollywood after attending UCLA. From "The Partridge Family" (ABC, 1970-1974) to "The Rockford Files" (NBC, 1974-1980), he was featured in guest spots throughout the 1970s, with one of his rare significant movie roles in a long-forgotten adventure flick, "Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze" (1975). After his part in "The Blue and the Gray," Lucking landed a guest stint on the hugely popular action series "The A-Team" (NBC, 1983-87) and he even snagged a starring turn on the quirky cowboy show "Outlaws" (CBS, 1986-87), though the program was short-lived. In 1986, he founded the Santa Paula Theater Center along with fellow TV mainstay Dana Elcar, but stayed active on screen with guest spots aplenty. In 1994, Lucking had a supporting part in the feature thriller "The River Wild" (1994), and he subsequently cemented his geek cred with a stint as an alien on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and a memorable role in "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'," one of the oddest and most beloved episodes of "The X-Files" (Fox, 1993-2002). Seemingly never lacking work, Lucking was eventually paired with his most substantial role when he was cast as Piney Winston, one of the senior members of SAMCRO on "Sons of Anarchy." Following his long run on the show, he slowed down a bit, with a small part in the Mark Wahlberg thriller "Contraband" (2012). William Lucking died on October 18, 2021 in Las Vegas, NV at the age of 80.