Veteran actor Joe Marinelli has died at the age of 68, his family and agent have confirmed.
The Santa Barbara actor – who recently starred in hit Apple TV show The Morning Show – died of stomach cancer on Sunday, June 22.
He is best known for playing Bunny Tagliatti in 171 episodes of NBC soap Santa Barbara; bank robber Pauly Hardman on the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light in 1993; and as mobster Joseph Sorel in General Hospital.
Marinelli’s agent Julie Smith told CNN he was living with stomach and throat cancer for a few years before his death, and the soapstar’s wife Jean Marinelli confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.
In The Morning Show, Marinelli played TV show director Donny Spagnoli, alongside Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, who portrayed presenters on the fictional daytime show.
The series also stars Steve Carell, Juliana Margulies, John Ham, and Billy Crudup.
‘I really loved him and what he stood for,’ Mark Duplass, who plays TMS executive producer Chip Black on the show, told Hollywood Reporter.
‘We didn’t spend 10,000 hours together, but we were spiritually aligned in many ways.’
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