Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles; his brother was jazz drummer Chico Hamilton. He attended Oakland Technical High School, where he first became interested in acting. In films from 1950, he labored in bit roles for years before getting noticed in the film One Potato, Two Potato (1964), the story of an interracial marriage. He is best remembered for his role as the brusque, no-nonsense Captain Dobey in the United States 1970s police series Starsky and Hutch.
Hamilton was also an impresario; starting in the late 1960s he ran a nightclub/art gallery called Citadel d’Haiti on Sunset Boulevard. Hamilton also produced rhythm and blues and gospel music recordings on his own record label called Chocolate Snowman. One of his releases featured himself; it was entitled Captain Dobey Sings the Blues.
Hamilton died of cardiac arrest on December 30, 2008, aged 80. A US Army veteran in the Korean War, he was buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.

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