‘Felicity’ Star Dead at 67 Following Cancer Battle
Erich Anderson, the actor who portrayed Keri Russel’s father on the hit WB show Felicity, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 67. The tragic news was announced via Instagram on Saturday by Anderson’s wife of 20 years, Saxon Trainor.
“My husband Erich died this morning,” Trainor began her post. “I am sharing my brother-in-law Michael O’Malley’s words as I am too bereft now to write anything.”
O’Malley’s tribute reads: “My brother in law Erich Anderson passed this morning after a brutal struggle with cancer. He had a long successful career as an actor—he was on that old show Thirtysomething; he was Felicity’s father on Felicity; he was killed in a basement in a Friday the 13th movie: he was on Star Trek and dozens of other shows. He was a smart and funny guy, a fantastic cook; he wrote three great novels which you can find on Amazon. I’ll miss him, but his ordeal is over.”
In addition to Felicity, Anderson guested on immensely popular network procedurals such as Monk, Cold Case, Medium, and The Mentalist. He starred opposite Richard Gere and Diane Lane in the 2002 erotic thriller Unfaithful, and is well known in the horror fandom community for his over-the-top demise in Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter. The latter role made him a fixture at genre conventions during his final years. Anderson's book, Rabbit: A Golf Fable, is available to purchase on Amazon in Kindle or paperback versions.
Actor Eve Gordon, who portrayed Felicity’s mom on Felicity, also honored Anderson in a post to her own Instagram.
“My beautiful friend, Erich Anderson, has said goodbye,” she captioned a photo of herself and Anderson along with Russell. “He was a magnificent part of the world. I loved him. I wish you’d known him, there was no one like him. So funny, so open to whatever the day brought him, so wickedly cynical and joyous at once...[I] was always happy when we found each other in LA, we’d hang out and talk for hours. He was so smart."
Gordon continued: “We’d hang out and talk for hours. He was so smart. Ah, look at this Erich, I’m using the past tense. My friend, I hope I see you again in dreams and other dimensions. Fly high, my friend.”