Yahoo News Erich Anderson, Novelist and 'Felicity' Actor, Dies At 67 After 'Brutal Struggle With Cancer'
Author and actor Erich Anderson has died at the age of 67.
In an Instagram post this weekend, Anderson’s wife, actor Saxon Trainor, confirmed her husband died after a “brutal struggle with cancer.”
In the post, which featured a close-up of the “Felicity” actor’s face, Trainor left followers with a few words from her brother-in-law Michael O’Malley, admitting she was “too bereft now to write anything.”
O’Malley’s tribute remarked on his brother’s “long successful career as an actor,” noting how Anderson appeared on the show “Thirtysomething,” played the father of “Felicity’s” titular character, and “was killed in a basement in a Friday the 13th movie,” in addition to credits on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “dozens of other shows.”
“He was a smart and funny guy, a fantastic cook,” the statement went on. “He wrote three great novels which you can find on Amazon. I’ll miss him but his ordeal is over.”
According to a biography on Anderson’s website, he was born in Sagamihara, Japan, in 1957 and first earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from University of California, Santa Barbara before embarking on acting in the 1980s.
His career in front of the camera took off after appearing in 1984′s “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” his first of 20 feature film credits.
A prolific television talent with over 300 episodes to his name, Anderson’s small-screen credits included appearances on “NCIS,” “7th Heaven,” “ER,” “Melrose Place,” the reboot of “Knight Rider,” “The X-Files” and more.
In addition to reoccurring roles on “Felicity” and “Thirtysomething,” Anderson was also a repeat player on the series “Second Chances,” “Bay City Blues” and “NYPD Blue.”
The actor and writer published his debut novel,“Hallowed Be Thy Name,” in 2012, following up with the sequel “Thy Kingdom Come” in 2014 and later releasing “Rabbit: A Golf Fable” in 2022.
Anderson’s biography also credits him as the writer of “multiple episodes of television” with “a filing cabinet full of unproduced screenplays.”
