John Heard, Home Alone Dad, Passed Away At 71 [VIDEO]

23 Jul, 2017 by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Print this article Font size -16+

I can remember watching the Home Alone movies with my family. We loved them and still do. They have an innocence about them and are incredibly funny. It was a simpler time. They don’t make movies like that anymore. John Heard played the inept, forgetful father of Macaulay Culkin’s character. He was in so many shows, they are hard to count and I really liked the guy. Sadly, John Heard died this week at the age of 71. I can’t believe he is gone.

Heard was in so many shows: ‘The Sopranos’ won him an Emmy. Others include ‘Deceived’, ‘Beaches’, ‘Big’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Awakenings’ and ‘The Pelican Brief’. TV shows include ‘Battlestar Galactica’, ‘Miami Vice’ and the first ‘Sharknado’. He was so much a part of the 1980s and 90s… Americans will deeply miss him. His career spanned four decades and he had more than 200 credits on stage and screen.

From Hollywood Gossip:

He was found in a hotel room in Palo Alto, California, by a maid. The hotel called 911 to report a medical emergency, but he was pronounced dead when officials arrived on the scene.

At this point, there’s been no official cause of death listed, and a coroner is investigating the matter.

However, police don’t believe there was any foul play.

Interestingly, John’s rep informed TMZ that he’d just had “minor back surgery” on Wednesday.

That’s why he was staying at the hotel in the first place — it’s common for people with the means to do so to stay in a hotel while recovering from surgery.

Could he have had some unknown complication from the surgery?

Heard was found in his hotel room by a maid. That was in Palo Alto, California. He was pronounced dead at the scene and no foul play is suspected. He had minor back surgery this week and was recovering at the hotel. “I can confirm that our officers responded with the fire department to a hotel in our city yesterday on a report of a person in need of medical aid,” a spokesperson from the Palo Alto Police Department told People in a statement concerning the death. “The person was determined to be deceased. While still under investigation, the death is not considered suspicious at this time.” Cause of death at this time is not being released.

He had been married three times, including a marriage to Margot Kidder. Heard was a Washington, DC native. He also has three children… one by former partner Academy Award-winning actress Melissa Leo. Heard was arrested in 1991 for slapping Leo and again in 1997 for trespassing at her Baltimore home.

I simply cannot believe he is gone. It’s a tragic loss not only to Hollywood, but to all of us. RIP John Heard.