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 pal, director Matt Felker, introduced information of Newman’s loss of life on social media on Monday.
Felker, who directed the reflective docuseries After Baywatch: Second within the Solar, advised 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 Photographs
He stated Newman was “surrounded by his household and pals” on the time of his loss of life.
On social media, Felker wrote, “Mike was not solely an actual life hero. He was a competitor by means of and thru.”
Felker stated there have been usually instances 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 assist.
The sequence, which premiered this yr, profiles the lives Baywatch stars at the moment and discusses a lot of the forged’s journey to fame.
“I acquired to see Mike earlier than he handed away. He was unconscious largely… once I confirmed up he was awake nearly like a miracle and checked out me and stated ‘you’re simply in time’ and laughed,” Felker recalled. “That was Mike. He discovered humor all the way in which till the tip.”
In August, whereas selling After Baywatch: Second within the Solar, Newman stated his Parkinson’s analysis has introduced “numerous considering time, which I possibly didn’t need, but it surely’s introduced me knowledge.”
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“My physique has modified so slowly that I hardly discover it, but I’m always reminded that Parkinson’s has now grow to be the centre of my life,” he stated.
Parkinson’s illness is a degenerative motion dysfunction of the nervous system that progresses slowly. An individual could first expertise one thing like hand tremors earlier than signs grow to be worse over time. The illness impacts bodily capabilities like steadiness, speech and motion. There isn’t a remedy.
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 sequence famously starred David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Nicole Eggert and Alexandra Paul, amongst many others.
Newman additionally appeared within the spinoff sequence 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 Seashore in Malibu, Calif., on July 17, 1996.
Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Photographs
In addition to performing, 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 remedy.
Newman is survived by his spouse, Sarah, his youngsters, son Chris and daughter Emily, and his granddaughter, Charlie.
In accordance with 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 timeframe, there have been believed to be greater than 103,000 instances of Parkinson’s in Canada.
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