'Walking Dead' Star Scott Wilson, 76, Dies Following Battle With Leukemia

Scott Wilson, who played Hershel Greene on the AMC series The Walking Dead, has died aged 76.

The actor is reported to have died in Los Angeles, as a result of complications following a battle with leukemia.

The show's producers confirmed the news on the Walking Dead Twitter account.

It said: "We are deeply saddened to report that Scott Wilson, the incredible actor who played Hershel on The Walking Dead, has passed away at the age of 76. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Rest in paradise, Scott. We love you!"

The studio behind the zombie series told US Weekly that the actor will be missed.

A spokesperson for AMC said: "Scott will always be remembered as a great actor and we all feel fortunate to have known him as an even better person. The character he embodied on The Walking Dead, Hershel, lived at the emotional core of the show.

"Like Scott in our lives, Hershel was a character whose actions continue to inform our characters' choices to this day. Our hearts go out to his wife, family, friends and to the millions of fans who loved him. Scott will be missed."

Wilson first appeared in the hit zombie show in 2011 and went on to star in 37 episodes over the next three years.

NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA Images

His character Hershel Greene, who, like real-life Wilson, hails from the southern state of Georgia, was an old-school veterinarian trying to defend his family from the deadly zombies.

Hershel was killed off in the fourth season, when he was decapitated in an episode called 'Too Far Gone'. Despite being decapitated his head then turned into a zombie before having to be killed again in a later episode.

Over the course of a career that spanned some five decades, Wilson starred in more than 50 films, including a role as real-life murderer Richard Hickock in a film retelling of Truman Capote's iconic true-crime book In Cold Blood.

He played a number of supporting roles in his life on screen; in 1974 he was cast as George Wilson in a film of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, as well as parts in The Last Samurai, Pearl Harbor and Dead Man Walking.

RIP Scott Wilson.

Topics: TV and Film, US Entertainment

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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