In 1978, he landed the lead role of Dan Tanna in the crime drama series Vega$, which aired on ABC from 1978 to June 1981 and earned him two Golden Globe Award nominations.

In addition to his work in television, Urich also co starred in several feature films, including Magnum Force (1973), The Ice Pirates (1984) and Turk 182 (1985).

It was canceled shortly after he announced that he had been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer, in July that year.

He sought treatment for his illness while continuing his career and also worked to raise money for cancer research.

He was declared cancer free in 1998 and returned to television in the UPN series Love Boat: The Next Wave.

His last role was in the NBC sitcom Emeril in 2001, but in the autumn of that year his cancer returned and he died in April 2002[2] at age 55.

[4][5] An excellent high school athlete, Urich attended Florida State University on a football scholarship.

He went on to Michigan State University and earned a master's degree in Broadcast Research and Management.

That same year he was cast as Paul Thurston, a handsome, ego-driven talk show host in the Bewitched spin-off series Tabitha, starring Lisa Hartman.

Urich portrayed the series' lead character, Dan Tanna, a private detective who solves various crimes in Las Vegas.

In 1989, he portrayed Jake Spoon in the acclaimed television miniseries Lonesome Dove, a role for which he received many positive reviews.

In 1995, he narrated an extremely rare one-night showing of a Disney television documentary called Alien Encounters: From New Tomorrowland.

It earned strong enough ratings to be picked up for a second season but shortly after it was renewed, he announced he had been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma.

[16] After a year of treatment, he was declared cancer-free and returned to television in 1998 as Captain Jim Kennedy III in Love Boat: The Next Wave.

[4][21] In July 1996, Urich announced his diagnosis with synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer affecting soft tissue.

[6] In November 2001, Urich shared in an interview that doctors had found lumps in his body, but a new medication had successfully treated them.

[22][23] His funeral Mass was held on April 19 at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood.

[6] A statement was released by his publicist Cindy Guagenti, and said Urich's wife and three children were with him when he died.

[24] Urich's body was cremated, and his ashes interred at the family's vacation home in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.

A memorial stands in the West Lake Church of Christ Cemetery, near their vacation home.

[25] In addition, they established the Robert and Heather Urich Fund for Sarcoma Research at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Heather continued to work for the center, until she died from brain cancer on December 24, 2017, surrounded by their three children.