AP Photo/Charles SykesEdward Herrmann's TV family of seven years is missing him already.
"My friend Ed Herrmann was the kindest, classiest, most talented man. It was an honor and a joy to know him, a devastating blow to lose him," Lauren Graham, who played daughter Lorelai Gilmore to his family patriarch Richard Gilmore on the fan-favorite Gilmore Girls, tweeted today upon hearing that Herrmann had died at 71 after battling brain cancer.
Kelly Bishop, who played Herrmann's TV wife Emily Gilmore, called the actor one of the "finest human beings I've ever met" in a statement released to E! News Wednesday.
"Besides being a consummate actor, he was kind and funny, fair and honest and always willing to join in the game. We shared a love of acting and of being working actors and I suspect he was secretly grateful for all the opportunity and success he enjoyed...and deserved. His brother told me Ed never stopped learning; he was always curious.
"When I think of my dear friend, a phrase comes to mind: 'A hale fellow, well met.' And I am so lucky to have met him."
Bishop also told TV Line that the Gilmore Girls family was "so terribly sad and somewhat stunned" by his passing.
"We only learned about his illness a week or so ago," she said. "I got a call from [Edward's wife] Star Monday night asking if I wanted to come to the hospital to say good-bye. I went yesterday and was able to give Ed love from Lauren [Graham], Alexis [Bledel] and [series creator] Amy [Sherman-Palladino]... I have so many fond memories of our time together on Gilmore Girls and since, mainly via email. I think everyone who knew or worked with Ed found him to be absolutely delightful...
"Everything looks a little dim, as if the lights went down."
Herrmann's death did come as quite the shocking blow, the prolific character actor seemingly having worked as long as he was able to since he always seemed to be in something. He had a six-episode guest arc on The Good Wife last season and showed up on CSI and How I Met Your Mother in 2013; moreoever, he voiced the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt as heard in Ken Burns' 2014 documentary series The Roosevelts. (He played FDR, too, in the 1970s-era TV movies Eleanor & Franklin and Eleanor & Franklin: The White House Years.)
A star of both screen and stage, Herrmann also won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for the 1976 revival of Mrs. Warren's Profession. Herrmann also won an Emmy in 2009 for Best Performance by a Guest Actor in a Drama Series for The Practice.
His memorable big screen credits include The Lost Boys, Big Business, Overboard, Born Yesterday, Richie Rich, Nixon, The Emperor's Club, The Cat's Meow and The Aviator.