1970s TV Star Spencer Milligan Dead at 86, Best Known for 'Land of the Lost'

Spencer Milligan's big break came when he landed NBC sci-fi adventure drama 'Land of the Lost' in 1974.

By Megan Behnke

Hollywood is mourning the loss of Spencer Milligan. The actor, best known for the NBC series Land of the Lost in the 1970s, passed away on Apr. 18 at 86 years old, according to an obituary from the Huehns Funeral Home in Wisconsin. As of now, no cause of death has been reported.

Milligan was born on Sept. 10, 1937 in Oak Park, Illinois. He performed in local theater productions and served in the Army before being honorably discharged in 1966. Spencer trained at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, the Joan Actors Workshop in Los Angeles, and the Lee Strasberg Senior Workshop in New York. He began his on-screen acting career with a small role in Woody Allen's Sleeper in 1973. The following year, he appeared in The Man from Clover Grove and The Photographer.

His big break came in 1974 when he starred in Sid and Marty Krofft's adventure sci-fi drama Land of the Lost. The series chronicles the adventures of the Marshall family, who are trapped in an alternate universe inhabited by dinosaurs and other creatures. Milligan starred as Rick Marshall for the first two seasons before departing once Rick accidentally escaped the Land of the Lost without his kids. The show went on for just one more season.

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(Photo:

LAND OF THE LOST -- Pictured: (l-r) Wesley Eure as Will Marshall, Kathy Coleman as Holly Marshall, Philip Paley as Cha-Ka, Spencer Milligan as Park Ranger Rick Marshall (Photo by Ron Tom/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

- Ron Tom/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Via Syfy Wire, Milligan's co-stars Wesley Eure and Kathy Coleman paid tribute to their TV dad in a video posted to Facebook. "I'm a little speechless," Coleman said. "He was a true father to us all. Thank God we got to see him one last time in Milwaukee and spend some really beautiful moments with him. He was a great man and I really truly mean that. He was a really good man through and through, and he will be missed. But we will forever hold great, fun memories of him, and I will refuse to cry. I will just remember all the wonderful things that he meant to me. I will miss him, though, very much ... We loved you, Spencer, and we will continue to love you and cherish you and all the memories. We're so lucky to have had you in our lives."

"You have to understand, Sid and Marty didn't just cast our TV family, they cast our real family," Eure shared. "He was like a dad — we were all best friends, including Phil Paley, who played Chaka. Anyway, we just want to ... I don't know. What do you say when you've lost somebody you love?" Just last November, co-creator and producer Mary Krofft died at 86, so the Land of the Lost family is feeling a lot of loss.

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Spencer Milligan's other credits include Barbary Coast, City of Angels, The Keegans, McCloud, The Bionic Woman, Sword of Justice, Alice, The Dukes of Hazzard, Father Murphy, Police Squad!, and General Hospital. The long-running soap opera was Milligan's final role in 1987, but he did lend his voice to the 2020 animated film The Last Page of Summer. According to Deadline, after his TV career, the actor taught classes and directed stage plays in Sturgeon Bay, WI, where he spent most of his time.

Milligan is survived by his wife of 21 years, Kerry Milligan, and godchildren Andee Solis, Hilar Williams, and Spencer Williams. The family asks for donations to the Actor's Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting performers and entertainment professionals in times of need.

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