Back to the Future star Matt Clark has died after suffering complications from back surgery. The actor passed away in his Austin, Texas home on Sunday morning at 89.
The TV star’s family said, “he died the way he lived, on his terms,” according to TMZ, which first reported the story.
Matt underwent surgery after breaking his back months earlier, his daughter Amiee Clark reportedly told The Hollywood Reporter.
“He built his own house with his own hands,” Matt’s family said in a statement following his death.
“He kept his closest friendships for sixty years. He showed up for the work, and for his people, every time. He was complex. He was tough. He could be gruff.
“But the moral compass never wavered, and the love was never in doubt. You could see it — in his eyes, in his performances, in the family he loved to keep together. He lived. He lives, forever.”
Matt is survived by his children: Amiee, Matthias Clark, Jason Clark, and Seth Clark; his grandchildren: Sequoia, Dylan, Elizabeth, Miles, Emily, Izzy, Dax, Emanuel, and Lucas; and his great-grandson, Claude.
He also has stepchildren: Michelle, Joyce, and Ray, with his third wife, Sharon, whom he married in January 2000.
Matt has another daughter, Alexandria, who died years earlier.
The seasoned actor is best known for his role as a bartender in Back to the Future: Part III (1990) with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the TV sitcom, Grace Under Fire (1993-1995), and a slew of Westerns.
His decades-long career included starring alongside Hollywood A-listers, such as Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and John Wayne in The Cowboys (1972).
He also appeared in the Paul Newman-led Western The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and in Jeremiah Johnson (1972) and Brubaker (1980) with Robert Redford.
“I just loved ’em!” Matt said in a 1991 interview about working in Western films.
“Just like you always wanted to do as a little kid, you put on chaps and boots and tie-on spurs that jingle when you walk.”
Additionally, Matt starred in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), and TV classics Bonanza (1969), Kung Fu (1973), and Dynasty (1981-1982).
Matt stepped behind the camera to direct the 1988 feature Da, which earned a nomination for Best Film at the Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival, starring Bernard Hughes, Martin Sheen, and William Hickey.
According to IMDb, his last acting credit was in 2014, for A Million Ways to Die in the West, in which he portrayed an old prospector.
This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission.