Jack Lilley, who was known for his many roles across classic TV series in the ’70s and ’80s including Little House on the Prairie, has died aged 91.
The news was confirmed by granddaughter, Savannah Dawn Lilley, who shared a moving tribute on Instagram.
Watch the video above
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“The man who started it all. Figuratively and literally,” she wrote in the Thursday post.
“The card shark, the horse trader, the wrangler, the man with a story for everything, he always knew someone who could help if he couldn’t, known to many as friend, storyteller, joker, and a heck of a horseman, and his favorite, PAPA.
The actor and stuntman played many roles on the ’70s show, including a townsman and stagecoach driver.
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“Jack went to be with his bride, Irene, tonight. He just couldn’t bear another second without her. You left one heck of a mark on this world, Papa. Your laugh and spark in your eyes when you saw the ones you loved will stay with us forever.”
She did not mention his cause of death in the post.
Also paying a lengthy tribute was the show’s then-child star, Melissa Gilbert, who reminisced about her time working with Jack over many years, calling him, “one of my favorite people on the planet”.
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“He taught me how to ride a horse when I was just a wee little thing. He was so patient with me. He never said no when I would bound up to him squealing, ‘Can we go ride? Please, please, please?'”
She also recalled filming a pilot for a western show many years after her stint on Little House on the Prairie, with many “synchronistic” similarities to the hit show.
But she realised the biggest when she “walked to the set itself and before I could even focus I heard a familiar voice holler, ‘Hey Halfpint, you old rat-ass!!!’
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“It was Jack. He was our wrangler for that pilot and by his side was Denny Allen, who had been our wrangler on Little House.
“In that instant, I knew I was home. Jack always felt like home to me. He lived quite a life. I am so lucky that he was my friend.”
Jack was renowned for his work as an actor and stuntman across many Western films and TV shows such as Sudden Impact, Young Guns, Planet of the Apes, and The Legend of Zorro, with over 280 credits to his name.
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He had moved from Texas to Los Angeles, when his father began renting horses to film studios, according to The Santa Clarity Valley Signal.
He followed in his father’s footsteps in not only taking over the Movin’ On Livestock motion picture horse rental business but also in being a stuntman. Jack’s son Clay now continues the family legacy by running the business.
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