Actor Gavan O’Herlihy, finest identified for his transient function because the eldest Cunningham son on the sitcom “Comfortable Days,” has died on the age of 70, his agent stated.
“He was an exquisite actor with an extended and distinguished profession in movie, tv and theatre and was revered as a person of directness, sincerity, and honesty,” Michael Emptage instructed CNN.
Emptage stated O’Herlihy died in Bathtub, England, on Sept. 15, though his dying was not publicly confirmed till Friday.
The Irish-born O’Herlihy was a part of a showbiz household — the son of singer and actor Dan O’Herlihy — and grew up in the USA. When the nostalgic sitcom “Comfortable Days” went into manufacturing in 1974, O’Herlihy bought his large break as Chuck Cunningham, the household’s eldest youngster. Chuck was a university jock whose defining trait was a behavior of dribbling his basketball by the home, to the irritation of his father Howard, performed by Tom Bosley.
In a 2007 interview with the YouTube channel TwentyFour7TV, O’Herlihy stated the character was too dry to maintain his curiosity, and he left the present in its first season.
“I used to be going to return in, grunt, bounce a basketball as soon as each couple of weeks for most likely three or 4 years, and at 20 years previous, that is not the gig you need to be doing,” he stated.
Actor Randolph Roberts briefly took over the function within the present’s second season earlier than Chuck merely stopped showing on this system, turning into the quintessential instance of a personality who disappears from a tv present with none rationalization.
In distinction to his healthful begin on the small display, O’Herlihy later specialised in taking part in heavies, together with in Sean Connery’s remaining James Bond movie, “By no means Say By no means Once more.” His character, Jack Petachi, memorably used a faux eye to idiot safety at a nuclear facility earlier than being murdered in a automotive crash.
Former “Comfortable Days” co-star Ron Howard, who performed Chuck’s brother, Richie Cunningham, mourned O’Herlihy on Twitter. “A proficient actor with a giant free spirit,” stated Howard, who additionally directed O’Herlihy within the 1988 movie “Willow.”
O’Herlihy’s household didn’t reveal his reason for his dying.
“Gavan was bigger than life and is tremendously missed by all who knew him, most significantly by his adoring spouse and household,” Emptage stated.
