Charles Kimbrough, a Tony and Emmy-nominated actor who played a strait-laced news anchor opposite Candice Bergen on Murphy Brown, has died.

The 86-year-old died on January 11 in Culver City, California.

Kimbrough played newsman Jim Dial across the 10 seasons of CBS hit sitcom Murphy Brown between 1988 and 1998, earning an Emmy nomination in 1990 for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series.

He reprised the role for three episodes in the 2018 reboot.

Charles Kimbrough with Candice Bergen, a fellow cast member of the Murphy Brown TV series, as they are reunited for a segment of the NBC Today programme in New York, in 2008
Charles Kimbrough with Candice Bergen, a fellow cast member of the Murphy Brown TV series, on the NBC Today programme in 2008 (Richard Drew/AP)

The New York Times first reported his death and his son confirmed it on Sunday to The Associated Press.

Kimbrough’s wife, actor Beth Howland who played diner server Vera on the 1970s and 1980s CBS sitcom Alice, died in 2016.

They married in 2002, more than a decade after his 1991 divorce from his first wife, Mary Jane (Wilson) Kimbrough, who died in 2007.

The Times reports that Kimbrough is survived by a sister, Linda Kimbrough, a son, John Kimbrough, and a stepdaughter, Holly Howland.

Born on May 23 1936, Kimbrough spent years in the New York theatre scene.

He was nominated for a Tony in 1971 for his Broadway performance in the Stephen Sondheim musical Company.

Kimbrough also lent his voice to a gargoyle named Victor in Disney’s animated film The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.