Jay Thomas has died.
The ‘Cheers’ actor passed away from cancer at the age of 69 with his wife Sally and three sons, Sam, Max, and J.T., by his side.
His agent and friend Don Buchwald told the New York Daily News newspaper in a statement: "Jay was one of a kind, never at a loss for words and filled with so much fun and wonderfully whacky thoughts and behaviour."
In addition to playing Eddie LeBec in ‘Cheers’, he played obnoxious TV talk show host Jerry Gold on ‘Murphy Brown’ from 1989 until 1998, and also had his own sit-com, ‘Love and War’, from 1992 until 1995.
Most recently, Jay was seen in ‘Ray Donovan’ as Stalker.com owner Marty Grossman.
The popular Texan, whose first TV role was in ‘Mork & Mindy’, also appeared in the ‘Santa Claus’ movies, and his other big screen credits included ‘A Smile Like Yours’, ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ and ‘Labor Pains’.
He was also a regular guest on David Letterman’s talk show during the festive season, where they would try and knock meatballs of a Christmas tree with footballs.
He previously said about his guest stint: "It’s been fun. I’ve always wanted to be one of those guys on late-night talk shows who everybody wants to see. Like on Carson, when Rickles would come out. I became that guy. And I love football, so my two big dreams were totally realised."
Jay Thomas dies
