'Days of Our Lives' Actor Frank Parker Dead at 79

Veteran TV actor Frank Parker, known for playing the role of Grandpa Brady for almost 25 years on Days of Our Lives has died at the age of 79.

Parker reportedly died on September 16 in Vacaville, California, from complications of Parkinson's disease and dementia.

Parker was known for his prominent role as Grandpa Shawn Brady on the NBC soap, Deadline reports, from 1983 until he retired in 2008.

His character was written out of the daytime soap in an iconic way, when his character found himself on a sabotaged airplane and gave up his oxygen mask to save his son, Bo (Peter Reckell).

He also made appearances on daytime dramas General Hospital, The Young and the Restless and Never Too Young.

According to Soap Hub, Parker was born in Darby, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1939. He earned his BA in Acting from Carnegie Tech in 1962 and moved to Culver City, California.

The actor's first TV appearance was a guest appearance on TV series Gomer Pyle: USMC. He also appeared in other projects including The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Hogan's Heroes and Mission: Impossible.

He made his daytime soap debut on General Hospital in 1980, playing the role of Paddy Kelly, Joe Kelly's father and original owner of Kelly's. He was infamously married to a much younger woman named Rose (Loanne Bishop) and eventually passed away.

In 1983, the actor was cast as the patriarch of the Brady family on Days of Our Lives. His character was the pillar of his family, with e of the biggest storylines from the show to date being when Bo discovered he wasn't his biological son. Turns our his wife Caroline (Peggy McCay) had cheated on him with Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston).

He also had a few roles on the big screen, including an uncredited role in the 1976 World War II film Midway, the second film presented in the Sensurround format, Deadline writes.

Soap Hub writes that he married Nola Donelle Rajcock in 1981 and had three daughters. One of them, Candace passed away in 1999. In 2005, the actor married Mary Jean Dunning Garofalo. Parker lived in Vacaville the last few years of his life.

Parker is survived by his wife, Mary; daughters Danielle Buckles and Lindsay Parker (Travis Burbanl); his grandson Jaxson Dale; and many nieces and nephews.

Days of Our Lives, now in its 54th season, airs weekdays at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.