John Heard has passed away at the age of 72. The Hollywood actor, famous for his role in the "Home Alone" films, underwent minor back surgery at the Stanford Medical Center on Wednesday. While he was recovering, Heard was staying in a local hotel. The maid service at that hotel discovered Heard dead in his room on Friday.
Actor passes away at a hotel after undergoing minor surgery
OK! reports that police were called out to the hotel for a medical emergency and found Heard in his room, where he was pronounced dead. The Hollywood actor had been staying at the hotel while he recovered from what TMZ reports the actor’s representative as saying was minor back surgery.
The cause of his death is currently unknown.
Heard established himself as an actor in the 70s and 80s
According to IMDb, Heard was born in Washington, DC on March 7, 1945 and graduated from Gonzaga College High School in 1964. In 2003, he was inducted into that schools theater hall of fame. He then went on to graduate from Clark University, Worcester, MA in 1968. Heard then established himself as an actor in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Best known for his role as Macaulay Culkin’s father, Peter McAllister, in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” he also starred in various other movie roles. In the 70s he starred in the 1977 film “Between the Lines,” followed up with “Chilly Scenes of Winter” in 1979 and the 1981 movie “Heart Beat,” opposite Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek.
One of his most powerful performances was as a badly wounded Vietnam veteran in the 1981 “Cutter’s Way” where he starred with Jeff Bridges, followed up by the 1985 film “The Trip to Bountiful” where he played the son of Geraldine Page’s character. He also played opposite Tom Hanks in the 1988 film “Big.”
Actor was often confused with actor John Hurt
While he was often confused with Oscar-winning John Hurt, Heard never got around to winning an Oscar, but did receive an Emmy nomination for his role in the 1999 television series “The Sopranos,” where he played a corrupt police detective.
Actor John Heard has died at 72.https://t.co/0ptLmXU9gd
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) July 22, 2017
Among his various quotes, Heard once commented on working in television. He called it “fast and loose,” saying an actor has only two or three takes to get things right and if there is a problem, by the time you figure that out, everyone has moved on to the next scene.
He called it good training, as it keeps an actor on their toes.
Marriages and children
Heard was married to Hollywood actress Margot Kidder from 1979 to 1980 and to Sharon Heard from 1988 to 1996, with whom he had two children, Max Heard and Annika Heard. He also had a son with former partner Melissa Leo, John Matthew "Jack" Heard. Heard was also married to Lana Pritchard from May to December 2010.
