George Segal has died at the age of 87

George Segal, star of 1966’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and more recently the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs, died on Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California, his wife said. He was 87.

“The family is devastated to announce that this morning George Segal passed away due to complications from bypass surgery,” Sonia Segal said in a statement.

He stared in some incredible movies – Ship of Fools (1965), King Rat (1965), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967), Where’s Poppa? (1970), The Hot Rock (1972), Blume in Love (1973), A Touch of Class (1973), California Split (1974), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), Rollercoaster (1977), For the Boys (1991), and Flirting with Disaster (1996).

Segal was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

His TV work included the NBC series Just Shoot Me from 1997 to 2003, and as Albert “Pops” Solomon on The Goldbergs since 2013.

“Today we lost a legend. It was a true honor being a small part of George Segal’s amazing legacy,” said Adam Goldberg, creator of The Goldbergs, who based the show on his 1980s childhood. “By pure fate, I ended up casting the perfect person to play Pops. Just like my grandfather, George was a kid at heart with a magical spark.”

I was lucky enough to see him perform in 1999 in the stage play Art in New York City and he was fantastic. I also highly recommend watching his films from the 60s and 70s. Some absolute classics in there.

He was an absolute legend and he will be missed.