Actor Michael Newman of Baywatch died on Sunday, 18 years after he was recognized with Parkinson’s illness. He was 68.
Newman, who introduced his real-world lifeguarding expertise to play Michael “Newmie” Newman on the profitable ’80s and ’90s soapy drama, was recognized with Parkinson’s in 2006.
His shut buddy, director Matt Felker, introduced information of Newman’s dying on social media on Monday.
Felker, who directed the reflective docuseries After Baywatch: Second within the Solar, instructed Individuals journal that Newman died “from coronary heart issues.”
Michael Newman on the premiere of the docuseries “After Baywatch: Second within the Solar” at The Bungalow on Aug. 26, 2024, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Gilbert Flores/Selection through Getty Pictures
He mentioned Newman was “surrounded by his household and mates” on the time of his dying.
On social media, Felker wrote, “Mike was not solely an actual life hero. He was a competitor by means of and thru.”
Felker mentioned there have been typically occasions whereas producing the Baywatch docuseries that he wished to “throw all of it within the trash,” however didn’t due to Newman’s enthusiasm and help.
The collection, which premiered this 12 months, profiles the lives Baywatch stars at present and discusses a lot of the forged’s journey to fame.
“I acquired to see Mike earlier than he handed away. He was unconscious principally… once I confirmed up he was awake virtually like a miracle and checked out me and mentioned ‘you’re simply in time’ and laughed,” Felker recalled. “That was Mike. He discovered humor all the best way till the top.”
In August, whereas selling After Baywatch: Second within the Solar, Newman mentioned his Parkinson’s prognosis has introduced “a variety of pondering time, which I perhaps didn’t need, but it surely’s introduced me knowledge.”
Get breaking Nationwide information
For information impacting Canada and all over the world, join breaking information alerts delivered on to you once they occur.
“My physique has modified so slowly that I hardly discover it, but I’m continuously reminded that Parkinson’s has now turn into the centre of my life,” he mentioned.
Parkinson’s illness is a degenerative motion dysfunction of the nervous system that progresses slowly. An individual might first expertise one thing like hand tremors earlier than signs turn into worse over time. The illness impacts bodily features like stability, speech and motion. There isn’t any treatment.
Newman appeared in 150 episodes of Baywatch, which ran from 1989 to 2001. He was the one forged member to have precise lifeguarding expertise. The collection famously starred David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Nicole Eggert and Alexandra Paul, amongst many others.
Newman additionally appeared within the spinoff collection Baywatch Evenings and the 1998 movie Baywatch: White Thunder at Glacier Bay.
Donna D’Errico, Michael Newman and Traci Bingham attend a ‘Baywatch’ press occasion at Malibu Seaside in Malibu, Calif., on July 17, 1996.
Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Pictures
Moreover appearing, Newman was additionally a full-time firefighter and retired after 25 years of service, even balancing firefighting together with his Baywatch filming schedule.
He was an advocate for Parkinson’s analysis and spent a lot of the final decade elevating cash for the Michael J. Fox Basis, which is devoted to the seek for a treatment.
Newman is survived by his spouse, Sarah, his youngsters, son Chris and daughter Emily, and his granddaughter, Charlie.
In response to Parkinson’s Canada, greater than 12,500 folks within the nation had been recognized with the illness between 2019 and 2020. In that very same time-frame, there have been believed to be greater than 103,000 instances of Parkinson’s in Canada.
© 2024 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
