Lena Dunham has paid tribute to late Girls co-star Peter Scolari following his death from cancer at the age of 66.
The actor, who played Dunham’s on-screen dad Tad Hovarth in all six seasons of the comedy series, died on October 22nd following a two-year battle with the disease.
Along with a series of pictures from Scolari’s acting career, Dunham shared a heartfelt tribute to the “humble icon” on Instagram.
“The shyest extrovert, the most dramatic comedian, the most humble icon. You had lived enough life to know that a TV show was just a TV show, but also to appreciate just what it meant to be allowed to play pretend for a living – and you never let us forget that this job was a privilege,” she wrote.
She continued: “I remember when you came back from doing a production of the Music Man somewhere – the theater had basically been a barn, there had been no WiFi and you had no understudy – and you were as grateful and delighted as you were when you were nominated for an Emmy.”
“You bragged nonstop about your kids, you had the best stories – like when you did Circus Of The Stars and ‘that’s when I learned to walk a tightrope, there’s not much to it’ – and when we told you that you would be coming out of the closet on the show you said ‘thank you, you can trust me with this.’”
“Becky Ann [Baker] and I loved every second of playing your family and I couldn’t have been raised up by a better TV ‘papa.’ Thank you, Scolari, for every chat between set ups, every hug onscreen and off and every ‘Oh, Jeez.’ We will miss you so much,” she concluded.
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Scolari won his first Emmy Award in 2016 for his role in Girls, and was previously nominated for the sitcom Newhart, which ran from 1984 to 1990.
Prior to appearing on Girls, Scolari also starred alongside Tom Hanks in the 1980s sitcom Bosom Buddies.
Scolari is survived by his wife, Tracy Shayne, and children Nicholas, Joseph, Keaton and Cali.
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