ABCRichard Dawson, best known for his hosting duties on Family Feud and starring role on Hogan's Heroes, has died at the age of 79.
The famed TV personality passed away from complications due to cancer Saturday evening at Ronald Reagan Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles.
"It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my father passed away this evening from complications due to esophageal cancer," Dawson's son Gary posted on Facebook. "He was surrounded by his family. He was an amazing talent, a loving husband, a great dad and a doting grandfather. He will be missed but always remembered."
Dawson, who began his career in show business as a stand-up comedian in London, appeared on a variety of shows such as Steve Allen and The Dick Van Dyke Show, but it was his role as a cockney prisoner of war named Capt. Peter Newkirk on Hogan's Heroes that really introduced him to American audiences.
Post Hogan's Heroes fame, Dawson went on to host Family Feud from 1976-1985 and then again from 1994-1995.