Will & Grace actor Charles C Stevenson died of natural causes at the age of 95 in Camarillo, California on January 19.
Stevenson’s son Scott confirmed in a statement to Variety the passing of his father, who played the role of Smitty on 12 Will & Grace episodes over seven seasons from 2002–2020.
Scott told the outlet how his late father viewed his onscreen presence, which included a number of religious roles.
‘In his own words, his job was “marrying or burying people,”‘ Scott told the publication.
He added, ‘As he told it, the panic-stricken director would invariably come to him to beg him to find a way to fill in unscripted space between, “We are gathered here together”(where he’d probably get his close-up) and the “amen” at the end of the scene (where he usually wouldn’t).’
Scott concluded: ‘Stevenson admitted that he got pretty good at that.’
Stevenson’s final appearance on the series came in the 11th episode of the 11th season, titled Accidentally on Porpoise, which aired February 20, 2020.
Charles C Stevenson was 89 at the time of production, prior to the pandemic.
Charles C Stevenson was a veteran of the Korean War, having served in the Navy, according to Variety.
After that, he attended college at UC Berkeley, where he got an English degree en route to a career in fundraising, for organizations such as Project Hope and the Epilepsy Foundation.
Charles C Stevenson began living in Los Angeles in the 1960s and worked with Hollywood legends such as Henry Winkler and the late James Stewart and Jack Lemmon, in his professional endeavors prior to acting.
His first major part came with the 2008 Disney movie Snow Buddies, which he was 76 when he filmed.
According to iMDb, Stevenson’s first recorded role was as a reporter on an episode of the show Voyagers! in 1982.
Stevenson would go on to appear in uncredited roles on 1980s TV shows such as Cheers, L.A. Law and Dynasty.
Among the TV shows he appeared on in the 1990s included Empty Nest, Sister Sister, Murder She Wrote, NewsRadio, Family Matters, Baywatch, Everybody Loves Raymond and Party of Five.
The 2000s brought appearances on shows such as The Office, Weeds, My Name Is Earl, Las Vegas and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Stevenson also appeared in motion pictures including The Naked Gun, Ed Wood, Men in Black, Pleasantville and Ghost World.
Charles C Stevenson is survived by five children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He had been married to Barbara Keller, with whom he welcomed Charles III and Valerie; and to late agent Joy Stevenson, with whom he fathered Catherine, Scott and William.