Dolph Sweet (July 18, 1920 - May 8, 1985) was born in New York, New York and was credited with nearly 60 television and film roles as well as several roles in stage productions before his death from cancer in 1985.

Born Adolphus Jean Sweet, his father was an auto mechanic and his first ambition was playing football. In 1939 he attended the University of Alabama; however, he was called away from his education for a tour of duty in World War II with the US Army Air Force. In World War II he was shot down over Germany and spent two years as a POW.

After the war, he played semi-pro football and boxed as he worked on a masters degree from Columbia University. He went on to head up the drama department at Barnard College. Shortly after, he made his Broadway debut in Rhinoceros which starred Zero Mostel.

His first major film role was in the motion picture The Young Doctors in 1961. He went on to make numerous guest appearances in films and on television through the 1960s, including roles on The Defenders, The Edge of Night and Dark Shadows. In his personal life he had now married and had a son. This marriage would end in divorce before the mid-1970's and he would remarry once more before his passing.

Through the 1970s, he saw a large increase in the demand for his services, landing roles in films such as Colossus: The Forbin Project, The Out-of-Towners, The Lords of Flatbush, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, Fear Is the Key, Which Way Is Up? and Heaven Can Wait. In addition to film roles, he also had guest starring roles on Little House on the Prairie and Mrs. Columbo.

He was well known for his role as Gil McGowan on the soap opera Another World (1972-1977).

In the 1980's, Sweet kept on working at a very steady pace landing roles in such films as Reds and had more guest slots on popular programs of the time such as Hill Street Blues and Hart to Hart. But it was his role as Carl Kanisky on the sitcom Gimme a Break! that many remember him for. While filming the series, he died of cancer at the age of 64.

A tough, barrel-chested, bull-necked presence on stage, film and TV, character actor Dolph Sweet was born in New York City on July 18, 1920, the son of an auto mechanic. He initially attended the University of Alabama in 1939, but his studies were interrupted by WWII Air Force duty. As a navigator of B-24s, he was shot down during a raid and captured, spending two years as a POW in Germany. For his valor he was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross and The Purple Heart. A semi-pro football player and a boxer at one point, he received his Masters from Columbia University in 1949 at age 29. He subsequently became the head of the drama division of the English Department at Barnard College from 1949 to 1961. During this period of time he studied voice with Peyton Hibbett, took intensive acting classes with Tamara Daykarhanova and Joseph Anthony at the Daykarhanova School for the Stage in New York City, and appeared in random stock productions in the hopes of one day pursuing a professional career full-time. He finally made his New York/Broadway debut in the Zero Mostel starrer "Rhinoceros" in 1961, and continued on the Great White Way with outstanding parts in "Romulus" (1962), "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window in 1964 (and its 1972 revival) and "Streamers" in 1976. Making his TV debut with "The Defenders" in 1961, Dolph quickly became a veteran of blue-collar cop shows including "East Side, West Side" and "The Trials of O'Brien." In the late 1960s he started making a dent in soap operas with regular roles on "Dark Shadows" (1966), "Edge of Night, The" (1956), "Somerset" (1970) and especially "Another World" (1964), where he remained for five seasons (1972-1977) playing (of course) Police Chief Gil McGowan, the second husband of Constance Ford's beloved Ada Davis character. Dolph received rather scant notice for his film roles despite some good scenes in such movies as Fear Is the Key (1972) and Go Tell the Spartans (1978). TV proved to be a more accepting medium for the actor. He portrayed J. Edgar Hoover in the "King" miniseries in 1978 and in the early 1980s the portly character player won a change-of-pace comedy lead in the popular sitcom "Gimme a Break!" (1981) in which he played (naturally) Police Chief Carl Kanisky, a widower whose household was run by the irrepressible Nell Carter (I). During the show's run, Dolph was stricken with cancer and would die on May 8, 1985. At the beginning of the 1985-1986 season, the chief's passing was incorporated into the script and Nell became surrogate mother and father to his children. In real-life, the 64-year-old actor was survived by his second wife of 11 years, actress Iris Braun, and son Jonathan from his first marriage to Reba Gillespie, which ended in divorce in 1973.