Dennis Franz Schlachta (/frɑːnz/; born October 28, 1944), known professionally as Dennis Franz, is an American retired actor best known for his role as NYPD Detective Andy Sipowicz in the ABC television series NYPD Blue (1993–2005), a role that earned him a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. He also portrayed two different characters on the similar NBC series Hill Street Blues (1983, 1985–1987) and its short-lived spinoff, Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–1988).
Franz was born October 28, 1944, in Maywood, Illinois, the son of German immigrants Eleanor (née Mueller), a postal worker of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, and Franz Ferdinand Schlachta, who was a baker and postal worker of German & Polish descent. He has two older sisters, Heidi (born 1935) and Marlene (born 1938).
Franz is a 1962 graduate of Proviso East High School in Maywood. During his high school years, he was active in baseball, football and swimming. He attended Wilbur Wright College and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, graduating from the latter with a bachelor's degree in speech and theater in 1968.

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