Actor Beau Starr, ‘Halloween’ Franchise’s Sheriff Ben Meeker And Former NFL Player, Dies At 81

Los Angeles: Hollywood actor Beau Starr, best known for the 'Halloween' franchise, has passed away at 81.

According to TMZ, the actor died on April 24 in Vancouver of natural causes, his brother confirmed.

Beau Starr was initially a professional football player for the New York Jets, the Montreal Alouettes, and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before delving into the entertainment industry.

In 1980, he featured in a play at the American Theatre of Actors, further earning his first television credit in 1979 on 'Bizarre'.

Moving forward, Starr worked in both TV and film, appearing in a 1983 episode of 'Three's Company', Steve Martin's comedy 'The Lonely Guy', 'The A-Team', 'The Fall Guy', 'Fletch', and an episode of 'Highway to Heaven'.

Starr also joined the 'Halloween' film universe with 1988's 'Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers', where he portrayed the character of Sheriff Ben Meeker. He returned for the franchise's fifth entry, 'Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers'.

In 1990, he also acted in 'Goodfellas', seen as father to Ray Liotta's character, Henry Hill.

Actor Christopher Serrone, who played the younger version of Henry in the Oscar-winning film, penned a tribute on Instagram.

"It is with a heavy heart I'm here to inform everyone of the very sad passing of Beau Starr. Mike Starr asked me to make the announcement. Beau enjoyed a rich and meaningful life. He was a son, brother, father, grandfather, actor and NFL/CFL player. Please take a moment to help me remember a great guy. RIP," he wrote, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

In a plethora of other projects, Starr appeared in the NBC crime drama series 'True Blue', '2000 Malibu Road', 'Bad Blood', 'Speed', 'NYPD Blue', 'Leap Years', 'Doc', 'Final Days on Planet Earth', and 'Psych'.