Robert "Bobby" Simone is a fictional character in the television seriesNYPD Blue. Played by Jimmy Smits he was introduced in the fifth episode of the second season remaining until the fifth episode of the sixth. Simone was introduced to the squad after Andy Sipowicz's former partner, John Kelly, was forced to leave the NYPD in the face of an IAB witch hunt. His previous job had been as a driver for the police commissioner, a role that initially riled Sipowicz. However, Simone explained that he had asked for the job so he could spend more time with his wife as she was dying from cancer. An early bond and friendship between them was strong enough that Andy asked Simone to step in after John Kelly couldn't make it back to New York for Sipowicz's wedding to Sylvia Costas. Bobby and Andy became great friends and partners, although Bobby did not let Andy get away with making racist comments around him. It is later learned that Bobby was a quiet kid whose passion for raising racing pigeons came from his friendship with a retired boxer, and that he had a flashy older friend named Ray DiSalvo whom he idolized—which came back to haunt him when Ray became a petty criminal and tried unsuccessfully to sell Bobby out to IAB for giving him an implicit warning to avoid a drug bust. In the episode "Prostrate Before The Law", season five episode 19, Simone is dealing with a suspect who assumes he is Puerto Rican. Simone retorts that he is of French and Portuguese descent and that his parents met in Belize. Early on in his time in the squad Simone started a relationship with Diane Russell, another detective at the 15th Precinct. According to NYPD guidelines the police department did not allow such couplings for officers who worked in the same precinct, so the couple kept it quiet up until the point that they were married by a justice of the peace. Simone earlier had to convince Diane that she had a drinking problem but was a source of strength and comfort for her as she successfully battled the demons in her past. The couple also conceived a child, but Diane had a miscarriage in season 5. In that season's finale, Bobby and Diane were married at City Hall. Shortly after the wedding, Simone contracted a critical heart infection that required a heart transplant. Although the transplant was successful and it initially seemed that Bobby would be discharged from hospital, he developed a Gram-positive bacterial infection which soon spread to his brain and other vital organs, causing a quick decline in his health. Due to his being on immunosuppressants at the time to keep his body from rejecting the heart, his immune system was not strong enough to withstand the infection, and he ultimately died, devastating Diane, Andy, and the rest of the team at the 15th. He was succeeded as Andy's partner by Danny Sorenson. Bobby returned, in an episode of the show's final season, as a spirit offering guidance and comfort to a troubled Andy.
