Andy Sipowicz (played by Dennis Franz) was a police detective (later sergeant) of the NYPD 15th Precinct in the lower East Side of Manhattan. Sipowicz was the main character and the only regular cast member to appear in every episode of the series. Sipowicz is described as "a drunken, racist goon with a heart of gold."
Early Career[]
Before he was a police officer, Andy served in the Army for an 18-month tour in Vietnam. One of Andy's early police assignments was infiltrating the Black Panthers organization by posing as a white lefist radical. He worked in the Robbery Squad, but transferred to the 15th Precinct by the mid-80's. He received the Gold shield of "Detective Third Grade" in 1978.
For 12 years, Andy was married to Katie Sipowicz and had a son, Andy Sipowicz Jr., but by 1993, Andy was estranged by Katie & Andy Jr. due to Andy's alcohol problem. After being shot 6 times during an ambush by a mobster named Alphonse Giardella and nearly killed, Andy stopped drinking, focused on his job, and reconciled with his son.
Career During NYPD Blue[]
When the series first premiered, Andy was partnered with John Kelly, who later left the police force in 1994 after he withheld evidence during a murder investigation involving his girlfriend, Janice Licalsi. After John left, Andy's new partner was Bobby Simone and they later became best friends.
In 1994, Andy started a relationship with Assistant District Attorney Sylvia Costas. In the beginning, they didn't get along, but they later got married in 1995 and had a son named Theo in 1996. Andy later overcame his bigotry with the help of his boss, Lt. Arthur Fancy, an African-American precinct chief. Due to his grudging friendship with the precinct receptionist, John Irvin, he also came to terms with his prejudice towards homosexuals.
Throughout the series, Andy has suffered numerous personal tragedies. His eldest son, Andy Jr. was shot and killed in a robbery just before he was about to start his job as a police officer in Hackensack, New Jersey. Andy Jr's death sent Andy into an alcoholic relapse which caused Sylvia to throw him out of the house. Andy also survived prostate cancer. In 1998, his best friend and partner Bobby Simone died of a heart infection which devastated Andy. Then over a year later, in 1999, Sylvia was shot and killed by a mad gunman in a courtroom. Her last words to Andy were, "Take care of the baby." This was followed two years afterward by the disappearance of Simone's successor, Danny Sorenson, later determined to be a murder by organized crime.
In 2003, Andy again remarried, this time to fellow 15th Squad Detective Connie McDowell. When Connie's sister Michelle was killed by her abusive husband, they became the adoptive parents of her baby, whom they named Michelle (after her mother). Later on, Connie became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Matthew. In the series finale, Andy became the squad commander at the 15th Precinct.
Family[]
- Katie Sipowicz (ex-wife)
- Sylvia Costas (2nd wife; deceased)
- Connie McDowell (current wife)
- Andy Sipowicz Jr. (son; deceased)
- Theo Sipowicz (son)
- Matthew Sipowicz (son)
- Michelle McDowell (adopted daughter)