Erich Anderson, best known for playing Felicity’s dad on the drama of the same name, died over the weekend after a battle with cancer. He was 67.
Anderson’s wife, actress Saxon Trainor, confirmed the news via Instagram on Saturday, June 1. “My husband Erich died this morning,” she wrote. “I am sharing my brother-in-law Michael O’Malley’s words as I am too bereft now to write anything.”
O’Malley described Anderson as “a smart and funny guy” and “a fantastic cook,” noting that he had published three novels in addition to being an accomplished actor.
“He had a long successful career as an actor—he was on that old show 30 something; he was Felicity’s father on Felicity; he was killed in a basement in a Friday the 13th movie: he was on Star Trek and dozens of other shows,” O’Malley continued. “I’ll miss him but his ordeal is over.”
Eve Gordon, who played Felicity’s mom on the WB series, also paid tribute to her TV husband via Instagram on Saturday.
“My beautiful friend, Erich Anderson, has said goodbye,” she wrote alongside a throwback photo of her and Anderson filming with Keri Russell, who played the titular character on Felicity. “He was a magnificent part of the world. I loved him. I wish you’d known him, there was no one like him. So funny, so open to whatever the day brought him, so wickedly cynical and joyous at once.”
Gordon, 63, noted that she and Anderson saw each other “less on set” after their characters got divorced, but they still kept in touch.
“We’d hang out and talk for hours. He was so smart,” she wrote. “Ah, look at this Erich, I’m using the past tense. My friend, I hope I see you again in dreams and other dimensions. Fly high, my friend.”
In addition to Felicity, Anderson starred in TV shows including The Outer Limits, Thirtysomething, Melrose Place, Boomtown, Bosch, NYPD Blue, Major Crimes and Star Trek: The Next Generation. His film credits included Unfaithful and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.
Anderson published his first novel, Hallowed Be Thy Name, in 2012. His books Thy Kingdom Come and Rabbit: A Golf Fable followed in 2014 and 2022, respectively.
