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‘Mod’ in Past but Cast Still Busy

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

What are the original members of “The Mod Squad” up to these days?

The busiest at the moment is Clarence Williams III, who played Linc in the 1968-73 ABC series. First comes “Life,” Universal’s Eddie Murphy-Martin Lawrence buddy picture, opening April 16. This summer, Williams will appear in “The General’s Daughter,” a Paramount crime thriller starring John Travolta. He’s shooting “Reindeer Games,” a Miramax drama directed by veteran John Frankenheimer, who also guided him in the 1997 TNT movie “George Wallace.”

Michael Cole, who portrayed Pete, has two films in post-production: the independent drama “Michael Angel,” with Dennis Hopper and Richard Grieco, and the paranormal thriller “Time Out for Bravo Seven.”

In a phone interview, Cole said he is proud of the ABC series and that he remains close to his former co-stars. He likes the big-screen version, saying the filmmakers showed the “bonding and caring” that was “the essence” of their counterculture hit. In the series, Cole joked, “I was like a rebel with a cause.”

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Peggy Lipton, who was cast as Julie, is divorced from producer-arranger Quincy Jones. She most recently had a supporting role in “The Postman,” Kevin Costner’s 1997 adventure. She made a brief series comeback in the ABC cult serial “Twin Peaks,” playing diner owner Norma Jennings, a role reprised for the 1992 movie “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.”

Tige Andrews, who recruited the trio of undercover cops as Capt. Adam Greer, said he’s still available to act, though in recent years he was involved in building estate homes with his son. His noteworthy post-”Squad” roles are the 1976 film “The Last Tycoon” and the 1977 TV movie “Raid on Entebbe.”

Fans of the series may recall that the quartet was reunited by producers Aaron Spelling and the late Danny Thomas for the 1979 TV movie “The Return of Mod Squad,” an attempt to revive the success of the original.

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