Tom Bower, the experienced character actor best known for his celebrity appearances The Waltons and in Die Hard 2has died. A family member confirmed the news to Deadline’s sister publication The Hollywood Reporter. He was 86 years old.

Bower never had what you might call a “breakthrough,” but he was an actor who was, well, known from everywhere. His over 180 film appearances include appearances in Detective Rockford – Just Call, Lou Grant, Quincy ME, Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, The X-Files, Law & Order and many other TV classics from the 70s, 80s, 90s and early 2000s.

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And he kept working. For the past 15 years, Bower Robert Donovan, Bosch, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, The office And It’s always sunny in Philadelphia. He also played the father of Bob Odenkirk’s character in Happy Hank and had a role in Vince Gilligan’s El Camino, a Breaking Bad movie.

Bower was the longest-running CBS hit The Waltons. He appeared in 27 episodes of the groundbreaking series, first as a stunt pilot named Rex Barker in an episode titled “Wingwalker” and then more prominently as Dr. Curtis Willard in Season 5 of the series. The character was a romantic interest of Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) and the two married before Dr. Willard went off to war. Bower later said he was written out of the series after asking for a small raise.

Mary McDonough, who played Erin Walton, wrote upon learning of Bower’s death: “Sad to hear of the loss of our ‘brother-in-law’ Curt. Rest in peace, Tom Bower.”

On the big screen, Bower worked with renowned directors such as John Cassavetes (Shadow), Oliver Stone (Nixon), Werner Herzog (Bad Lieutenant: Port of call New Orleans), Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the oven), Edward James Olmos (I, American), Philip Noyce (Clear and present danger), Kevin Costner (The Postman) and Ed Harris (Pollock, Appaloosa).

In Die Hard 2In “The 40 Years of the Year,” the actor played Marvin, a janitor who helps Bruce Willis’ Lt. John McClane defeat the villains. When McClane is finally reunited with his wife at the end of the film, it is Marvin who picks them up in an airport car and drives off into the sunset.

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