Veteran actor Richard Gilliland died at the age of 71.
Gilliland, who has been married to actress Jean Smart for more than 30 years, passed away on March 18 after a brief illness, Smart’s representative confirmed to Page Six on Friday.
Gilliland started at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago and has become a regular on-screen presence. He appeared on shows like “The Waltons”, “Thirtysomething” and “Party of Five”. He also played Captain Stan Cotter in “24” and had a recurring role as a serial killer in “Matlock”.
Before his death, he and Smart were to work together this summer on a film directed by Tate Taylor.
The couple met when Gilliland landed a role on Smart’s longtime program, “Designing Women”. In 1986, the Fort Worth, Texas native landed a recurring role in comedy as baseball talent scout JD Shackelford, the boyfriend of Mary Jo Shively of Annie Potts.
“I met him when he was kissing someone else,” Smart said during a 2017 interview with Northwest Prime Time, explaining that she quietly asked cast buddy Delta Burke to find out if Gilliland was on the market. “Naturally, Delta approached him and blurted out: ‘Jean wants to know if you’re married’.”
Smart said that she and Gilliland got along just after she “lured” him to her dressing room to help her with the crossword puzzle. They were married in June 1987 in the rose garden of “Designing Women” cast member Dixie Carter.
Gilliland leaves his son Connor, 31, daughter Bonnie (“Ani”), who turns 12 in May, sisters Ann Norberg and Wendy Knaack, brother John Wells and “many loving and devastated friends”, according to a press release.