(CNN) –George Segal, the prolific actor with a career that spanned more than six decades, has died at age 87, his wife said Tuesday.
“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 provided by Sony Television.
Segal was a native of Long Island, New York and his acting credits range from “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 1966, for which he received an Oscar nomination and “A Touch of Class” in 1973.
By the 1970s, he often played wry leading men in films such as “The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox,” and “Fun with Dick and Jane.” In the 90s, Segal was becoming better known for television roles, including as the slightly daft fashion magazine owner Jack Gallo in “Just Shoot Me!”
In 2013, producer Adam F. Goldberg cast Segal as the Jewish family patriarch Albert “Pops” Solomon in his semi-autobiographical series, “The Goldbergs.”
“By pure fate, I ended up casting the perfect person to play Pops,” Goldberg said on Twitter on Tuesday. “Just like my grandfather, George was a kid at heart with a magical spark.”
His agent, Abe Hoch described Segal as his close friend and client.
“I will miss his warmth, humor, camaraderie and friendship. He was a wonderful human,” he said in a statement provided by Sony.
