Scott Wilson Dies: Walking Dead Actor Was Age 76; AMC Calls “Emotional Core” Of Series
Courtesy of The Coronel Group (Updated with AMC statement) Scott Wilson, who was a key..
Courtesy of The Coronel Group
(Updated with AMC statement) Scott Wilson, who was a key member of the cast of The Walking Dead before exiting the show in shocking fashion, has died. He was 76 and his death was announced today on the Walking Dead comic official Twitter account.
Wilson played Hershel Greene on TWD from 2011-2014. In the series, he was a veterinarian who kept a barn full of walkers, hoping to find a cure. He later lost his leg and then his life to the sword of the Governor. While his youngest daughter Beth was also killed off on the series, the Lauren Cohan portrayed Maggie Greene, now Maggie Rhee in marriage, is one of the leaders of the Survivors.
News of Wilsons death came just over an hour after it was announced tonight at the Walking Dead panel at New York Comic Con that the actor would be among past cast members appearing in the AMC shows ninth season, which debuts tomorrow. Wilsons return to TWD after his characters death in 2014 has already been filmed, according to source close to the series based on Robert Kirkmans comics.
“Scott will always be remembered as a great actor and we all feel fortunate to have known him as an even better person,” AMC said in a statement Saturday.
Born in Georgia, Wilson had a long career in Hollywood. Among his roles, he played Las Vegas casino owner Sam Braun on CSI, and also the neighbor in the three Shiloh family films released in 1996, 1999 and 2006.
Wilson also had a role in The Great Gatsby (1974) and was murder suspect Harvey Oberst in his first feature, the Academy Award Best Picture Winner In the Heat of the Night (1967). Wilson also played murderer Dick Hickock in the film adaptation of Truman Capotes In Cold Blood (1967).
He later appeared as Captain Billy Cutshaw in the film The Ninth Configuration (1980). receiving a Golden Globe supporting actor nomination for the role.
William Delano Wilson was born in Atlanta on March 29, 1942. He graduated high school in 1960 and was awarded an athletic scholarship to Georgias Southern Polytechnic State University. He left school and hitchhiked to Los Angeles. After five lean years filled with acting classes and local plays, he wwon the role in In the Heat of the Night.
Wilson is survived by his wife, Heavenly, an artist and attorney. No memorial plans have been announced.
