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It’s been a sad week in entertainment. On Thursday, music fans mourned the shocking loss of Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, and now comes more heartbreaking news, this time from the world of film: John Heard, the beloved dad from Home Alone, has passed away at age 72.
The actor died on Friday in Palo Alto, California while staying at a hotel to recover from “minor back surgery,” which he underwent at Stanford Medical Center on Wednesday, according to TMZ. A spokesperson from the Palo Alto Police Department confirmed that “officers responded with the Fire Department to a hotel in our city yesterday [to] a report of a person in need of medical aid. The person was determined to be deceased. While still under investigation, the death is not considered suspicious at this time.”
The 72-year-old actor, who appeared in over 100 films, beginning with 1977’s Between the Lines, will always be remembered for his iconic portrayal of Peter McCallister, the loving-yet-super-forgetful father from Home Alone, as well as for his work in the hit HBO series Sopranos, in which he played Vin Makazian, a New Jersey detective.
Over the course of his five-decade-long career, the talented Heard acted alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names (John Candy, James Gandolfini) in hit movies that spanned all genres, from The Pelican Brief to Gladiator and even White Chicks.
He will be sorely missed.
What’s your favorite John Heard scene? Tweet us @BritandCo.
(h/t People; photo via Mark Davis + 20th Century Fox/Getty)
