HUGGY BEAR’S JOURNEY LED BACK TO LAS VEGAS


Ex-Raider Justin Fargas and his father Antonio Fargas, who played Huggy Bear in the hit TV series "Starsky and Hutch." Photo: Courtesy

Ex-Raider Justin Fargas and his father Antonio Fargas, who played Huggy Bear in the hit TV series "Starsky and Hutch." Photo: Courtesy

By Norm Clarke


Maybe destiny played a role in bringing actor Antonio Fargas back to Las Vegas..

Forty two years ago, early in his breakout role as Huggy Bear in “Starsky and Hutch,” Fargas was a guest star on “Vega$. The ABC drama featured Robert Urich as private investigator Dan Tanna.

“I  remember Sid Caesar was on the show,” said Fargas, who played “Fast Freddie” Tibbs in the episode “Mother Miskin.” He played “a bad guy.” 

Years of cameos prepared him for his ultra-cool portrayal of Huggy Bear, a bartender/friend and informant for cops Starsky (Paul Michael Glazer) and Hutch (David Soul). 

And yes, Fargas went for a spin or two in the “Striped Tomato,” the 1974 Gran Torino that made more than a few hearts race.

A native New Yorker, Fargas came from humble beginnings. His father was a Puerto Rican refuse collector and his mother was from Grenada after being born in Cuba. Antonio was one of 11 children.

His first film role, at 14, was in the docudrama “Cool World.” He appeared in the original “Shaft.” A big break came when he was cast in “Across 110 Street” with film legend Anthony Quinn. It was Fargas’ good fortune that Barry Shear, director of “Across 110 Street,” became the director of “Starsky and Hutch” TV pilot and recommended Fargas for the role of Huggy Bear.

By 2005, after 20 years in Los Angeles, Fargas and his wife Sandy were empty nesters and ready for a change of scenery. Las Vegas was high on their list. 

“I had worked on ‘Vega$’ and stayed at the Desert Inn and both of us had been here before,” he said. 

Fargas’ son, Justin, from a previous marriage, was in his third season with the Oakland Raiders. Antonio and Sandy had made a half dozen trips to Oakland for home games and watched Justin develop into a 1,000-yard rusher in 2007.

Justin was a third-round draft pick for the Raiders after a brilliant high school career at Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks, California. He won the 100-meter state championship with a time of 10.37 seconds. 

Justin said, “We were always Raiders fans. The only NFL game I had gone to was the Raiders in the (Los Angeles) Coliseum. Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen.”

He was a Raider from 2003 to 2009.

Funny how life turns out.

Monday the Raiders inaugurate their new home. Someday, if the franchise does as well as some predict, maybe they’ll be known as the Vega$ Raiders. 

The black and silver 65,000-seat stadium may look like a ghost town Sunday, due to the pandemic, but the historic opener is certain to spark memories for the Fargas family.

“There’s a photo of me at nine or 10, sitting on dad’s lap and wearing a big Raiders Starter jacket with a hoodie,” said Justin. “They were the only team I wanted to be drafted by.”

One of the most highly recruited football prospects in the nation, Justin turned down Southern Cal and signed with Michigan. His quarterback was fellow Californian Tom Brady. In Justin’s freshman year in a game against Wisconsin, Justin broke his leg and feared his football career was over. Discouraged but not giving up on his dream, he returned home to play for Pete Carroll’s resurgent USC Trojans.

Before high school, “Justin wanted to be famous as a soccer player,” said his father. “He didn’t play football until his freshman year and he took the ball and ran and set all kinds of records.”

Justin recalls, “I had 179 rushing yards against the Miami Dolphins. That was my best  game as a Raider.

Justin remembers his proud dad had a habit of showing up at his soccer and football practices and that continued at USC. “I didn’t want him to be the dad who was always around. At the time he was a cigar smoker. He’d always find a way to watch even when I didn’t want him to.

“I’d smell the cigar smoke and look around for him. I could never see him but I could always smell him.”

The Raiders’ move to Las Vegas triggered many emotions, said Justin.

“I hurt for Oakland because I know how much that city loves the Raiders, but knowing how much of a visionary Mr. Al Davis was and Mr. Mark Davis is, I think it’s a great pairing. I just want to see the Raiders on top.”

Retired in 2010, Justin lives in Baton Rouge, La., with his wife, Nikki, and their daughter Justice. Nikki is the head women’s basketball coach at Louisiana State University. She formerly played and coached for Pat Summit at Tennessee and coached at UCLA.

These days Justin has been involved with some of his former teammates developing technology to treat sports-related concussions and head trauma.

RAIDERS MAKE VEGAS DEBUT ON MONDAY

The Death Star comes alive for the first time Monday night in a prime-time debut that just a few years ago would have been unimaginable. The NFL in Sin City. Even the bookies in this gambling city would never have bet on this happening.—By Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press

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