Why ‘Mod Squad’ Star Peggy Lipton Walked Away From Hollywood After Finding Love

If you’re a fan of classic television, you probably recognize the name Peggy Lipton as the flower-powered, hip crime fighter Julie Barnes on The Mod Squad. Costarring alongside Clarence Williams III and Michael Cole, Lipton helped lead the series, which rode the wave of the late ’60s counterculture movement to immense popularity with audiences and critics alike. Her performance earned her six Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe win.

Despite her massive success on television, Lipton purposefully stepped away from the spotlight during the ’70s. The reason behind her decision was that she had fallen head over heels in love with music producer Quincy Jones, and together they decided to take a break from Hollywood to start a family.

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While Lipton and Jones eventually divorced, they remained great friends and maintained a happy, tight-knit extended family. Their two daughters, Kidada and Rashida, seem to have acquired the best traits from both of their parents. You’ll likely recognize Rashida from her roles in Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Angie Tribeca, where she beautifully carries on her mother’s acting legacy.

After raising her daughters, Lipton made a triumphant return to television in the early ’90s on the hit series Twin Peaks. The show, in which she played Norma Jennings, the owner of the Double R Diner, was nothing short of a pop-culture phenomenon, taking the U.S. by storm. It sparked oodles of conversations during the early days of the internet as fans speculated whether Special Agent Dale Cooper would ever get to the bottom of Laura Palmer’s untimely demise.

In 2005, Lipton released her memoir, Breathing Out, and it was in that book that she first publicly discussed her battle with colon cancer.

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Here’s what she told journalist Sheila Weller in NextTribe magazine, “Writing the book emotionally saved me during my treatment. It was all I let myself focus on: sitting on the floor, cutting and pasting the pages.”

Lipton continued to work and delight fans in her later years. She even made a memorable guest appearance on her daughter’s show, Angie Tribeca, playing Angie’s mother. However, this wasn’t their first time sharing the screen; the duo had previously appeared as mother and daughter in a Verizon commercial. That commercial actually went viral on social media because viewers couldn’t believe the actress cast as Rashida’s mother looked so darn young. Rashida responded to the disbelief with a few emojis and a good-natured, simple clarification: “That IS my mom!”

Sadly, Lipton’s battle with cancer ultimately led to her passing on May 11, 2019, at the way too young age of 72. She died peacefully, surrounded by her daughters and nieces.

In a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times that was later shared by People magazine, her daughters said this, “We feel so lucky for every moment we spent with her.”

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Pioneers of Television

May 2026

They were the innovators, the pioneers, the rebels. They dared to try something new and to push television to new limits.

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