Geoffrey Lewis (actor)

Lewis was born July 31, 1935, in Plainfield, New Jersey, but spent much of his youth in Wrightwood, California. He studied theater arts at San Bernardino Valley College for two years, then worked as a truck driver and at other odd jobs before launching his career as an actor. He took acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and performed off-Broadway and at regional theaters in Massachusetts.^[4] He tried breaking into Hollywood in the 1960s.^[5]

Lewis appeared in TV series including Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Cannon,^[6] Barnaby Jones, Mork & Mindy, The Golden Girls, Lou Grant, Mama's Family, Magnum, P.I., The A-Team, Titus, Murder, She Wrote, The X-Files, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, Starsky & Hutch, Walker, Texas Ranger and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 1979, he appeared in Salem's Lot. He also played opposite Polly Holliday in the Alice spin-off Flo (1980–81)^[5] for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.^[4] He co-starred with Fred Dryer in Land's End (1995–96).

His film credits include such movies as Down in the Valley, The Butcher, Maverick, and When Every Day Was the Fourth of July.

Lewis worked frequently with actor-director Clint Eastwood in several films, including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Pink Cadillac, Any Which Way You Can, Bronco Billy, Every Which Way but Loose, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, and High Plains Drifter.^[5][7]

In the 1980s, Lewis was also a member of musical storytelling group Celestial Navigations with musician and songwriter Geoff Levin.^[8]

Lewis was married three times and had numerous children, with news outlets variously reporting that he had nine or ten surviving children.^[9] One of his children is actress Juliette Lewis^[1] with whom he acted in at least two films, Blueberry and The Way of the Gun. His other children include his daughters Brandy, Hannah and Dierdre Lewis and Emily Colombier; his sons Peter, Lightfield, Miles and Matthew; and nine grandchildren.^[1]

On April 7, 2015, he died of a heart attack at age 79. He had suffered the heart attack while working out at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, according to his family. Miles Lewis told Variety he had been suffering from Parkinson's disease and dementia.^[10]