'Shameless' Actor Ed Lauter Dies
Credit: Showtime
The cast of Shameless has sadly lost one of its own.
Prolific character actor Ed Lauter, who most recently appeared on Showtime's popular drama in a four-episode arc as Dick Healey, has passed away on Wednesday at the age of 74 following a long battle with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer commonly associated with prolonged exposure to asbestos.
Lauter's career spanned five decades, beginning on television with appearances on Mannix and Cannon in 1971, before moving on to film. He appeared as the nemesis to Burt Reynolds in the original 1974 comedy The Longest Yard, which he listed in 2010 as his favorite film role. He also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's final film, The Family Plot, as well as Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning Born On The Fourth of July with Tom Cruise.
In addition to his work on Shameless, Lauter appeared on such TV series as The Office, ER, Murder, She Wrote and The Rockford Files. Lauter also landed high-profile work in recent major theatrical releases, appearing in 2011's Best Picture Oscar winner The Artist, and 2012's The Trouble With the Curve co-starring Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake.
Lauter has four films in post-production that will now be released posthumously.