A beloved former Hollywood child actor, Marc Gilpin, passed away on Saturday in Dallas, Texas at the age of 56 following a lengthy battle with cancer, according to the Daily Caller.
Gilpin was undoubtedly best known for his work in the 1978 hit film "Jaws 2," in which he played Sean Brody, the younger son of Police Chief Martin Brody, who was portrayed by actor Roy Scheider.
He was also somewhat famous for being the younger brother of veteran actress Peri Gilpin, who is perhaps best known for her role as Roz Doyle, the producer of the radio show featuring Fraiser Crane, portrayed by Kelsey Grammer, in the hit NBC sitcom "Fraiser."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it was Peri Gilpin who first shared the news that her younger brother had passed away after losing a long fight against glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
The outlet noted that Gilpin had been picked from among hundreds of other boys to play the role of Sean Brody in "Jaws 2," where he replaced fellow former child actor Jay Mello who had been Chief Brody's younger son in the original 1975 hit "Jaws."
Gilpin appeared in a handful of other films and TV shows in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, but his acting career was relatively brief and only contained 15 credited appearances, according to his IMDb page.
That includes single appearances on TV shows like "CHIPs," "Fantasy Island," "Flying High," "Silver Spoons," and "China Beach," among others.
It also includes movies like "Where's Willie?" "Earthbound," "The Legend of the Lone Ranger," License to Kill," "Surviving," and "Right to Kill?"
The Hollywood Reporter noted Gilpin, who was born in Austin, Texas in 1966, actually began his childhood acting career with appearances in a handful of commercials at age four.
After his acting career ended in 1989, however, Gilpin taught himself to become a software engineer, was involved in a successful software start-up company, and earned a few software patents to his name while working for another firm.
Gilpin is survived by his wife, Kaki, who he married in 1999, and their two sons, as well as his older sister Peri. He was unfortunately preceded in death by two other sisters -- April, who died in 2017 at age 48, and Patti, who died in 2020 at age 57.
Fox News reported that Gilpin's death was further confirmed by his sister Peri in a post to her Instagram account that featured a photo of Marc and Kaki just prior to their wedding.
"Kaki and Marc took care of each other with kindness, strength, dignity and invaluable humor," the grieving sister wrote. "When Marc became ill, Kaki and their boys surrounded Marc with love, hugs, and round the clock support and care."
"I just want to say how much I admire Kaki as a wife, mom, first grade teacher, sister and sister-in-law and undaunted caregiver," she added. "You are an amazing person Kaki and its so easy to see how much he has always loved you and always will."
