Veteran
actor-comedian
Fred
Willard,
best
known
for
his
performance
in
Everybody
Loves
Raymond
and
Modern
Family,
has
died
at
the
age
of
86.
The
star
passed
away
on
Friday
at
his
home
in
Los
Angeles
of
natural
causes,
his
daughter
Hope
Willard
confirmed
in
a
Twitter
post.
"It
is
with
a
heavy
heart
that
I
share
the
news
my
father
passed
away
very
peacefully
last
night
at
the
fantastic
age
of
86
years
old.
He
kept
moving,
working
and
making
us
happy
until
the
very
end.
We
loved
him
so
very
much!
We
will
miss
him
forever,
she
tweeted.
His
death
comes
nearly
two
years
after
the
passing
of
his
wife
of
50
years,
playwright
Mary
Willard,
who
died
in
2018.
Willard,
who
was
known
for
his
deadpan
cameos,
was
nominated
four
times
for
Emmy
Awards
--
three
of
them
(in
2003,
2004
and
2005)
for
playing
Hank
on
Everybody
Loves
Raymond
and
the
fourth
in
2010
for
his
recurring
role
as
Frank
Dunphy,
the
father
of
Ty
Burrell's
Phil
Dunphy,
on
Modern
Family.
His
character
received
a
send-off
in
a
January
episode
of
Modern
Family's
final
season
that
revealed
his
death.
He
also
appeared
in
various
movies
and
some
of
his
most
notable
work
in
cinema
include
Pixar's
much-beloved
Wall-E,
in
which
he
played
Shelby
Forthright,
the
hugely
optimistic
CEO
of
the
Buy
n
Large
Corporation;
Ed
Harken,
the
news
director
of
KVWN,
in
2004's
Anchorman:
The
Legend
of
Ron
Burgundy
and
medical
school
dean,
Dr
Willoughby,
in
Harold
&
Kumar
Go
to
White
Castle.
Willard
also
made
various
appearances
in
sketches
on
The
Tonight
Show
With
Jay
Leno
and
Jimmy
Kimmel
Live.
Many
from
the
entertainment
industry
took
to
social
media
to
honour
the
late
actor.
This
man
was
so
brilliant
and
he
elevated
the
flicks
and
TV
shows
in
which
he
popped
up.
RIP,
Funny
Man," filmmaker
Kevin
Smith
said
on
Twitter.
"There
was
no
man
sweeter
or
funnier.
We
were
so
lucky
to
know
Fred
Willard
and
will
miss
his
many
visits,"
Jimmy
Kimmel
tweeted.
Steve
Carell
wrote,
Fred
Willard
was
the
funniest
person
that
I've
ever
worked
with.
He
was
a
sweet,
wonderful
man.
Actor
Jamie
Lee
Curtis
thanked
Willard
for
making
people
laugh.
"How
lucky
that
we
all
got
to
enjoy
Fred
Willard's
gifts.
He
is
with
his
missed
Mary
now.
Thanks
for
the
deep
belly
laughs
Mr.
Willard," she
tweeted.