Spencer Milligan, ‘Land of the Lost’ star, dead at 86

(CNN) — Actor Spencer Milligan, best known for playing Rick Marshall in 1970s kids’ TV show “Land of the Lost,” has died at age 86.

Milligan was born September 10, 1937, in Oak Park, Illinois, and died on April 18, according an obituary posted on the website of a funeral home in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where he lived.

His stage career started in Illinois before he moved to California, where he spent most of his time from the 1970s to the mid-1990s.

It was during this period that he played his most famous role, appearing in 30 episodes of “Land of the Lost” from 1974 to 1975.

His character, Rick Marshall, was a dutiful father to Will Marshall, played by Wesley Eure, and Holly Marshall, played by Kathy Coleman, as the family tried to survive in a lost world populated with dinosaurs and other strange creatures.

Milligan went on to make guest appearances in myriad TV shows and movies of the era, including “The Bionic Woman,” “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Police Squad.”

He would often spend summers in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, a small city on the Door Peninsula in Lake Michigan.

It was there that he met his wife Kerry in 1991, and the pair married in 2002.

Milligan’s “Land of the Lost” co-stars Eure and Coleman paid tribute to their friend in a video posted on Facebook.

“We were all best friends,” said Eure.

“He was a great man,” said Coleman. “He will be missed.”

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