Geoffrey Lewis, actor and Eastwood collaborator, dies

Geoffrey Lewis, a rugged character actor who co-starred in seven Clint Eastwood films, including High Plains Drifter and Every Which Way But Loose, died of natural causes on Tuesday in Woodland Hills, Calif., according to Variety. He was 79.

His daughter, actress Juliette Lewis, posted a photo on Instagram and wrote, “He loved us so. So so much. I am forever my father’s daughter and he will never [be] gone.”

Lewis was a ubiquitous television presence beginning in the 1970s, when he started his career guest-starring in shows like Bonanza, Mannix, and Mission: Impossible. Shortly after starring in the western feature, The Culpepper Cattle Co., he appeared in Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter, beginning a collaboration that would span three decades. They also worked together on Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Every Which Way… and its sequel Any Which Way You Can, Bronco Billy, Pink Cadillac, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He also appeared in The Great Waldo Pepper, The Jericho Mile, Salem’s Lot, Heaven’s Gate, Fletch Lives, The Lawnmower Man, and The Devil’s Rejects and had a one-season arc on Falcon Crest—among scores of other credits. In 1981, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his supporting role as Earl Tucker on Flo.

Lewis is survived by his wife Paula Hochhalter and 10 children.