Actor Harris Yulin, best known for roles in Scarface and Ghostbusters II, has died at the age of 87 of cardiac arrest, his family and his manager, Sue Leibman, confirmed in a statement to the New York Post.

“Yulin was part of the vanguard of a generation who cared passionately about the craft of acting,” the statement reads. “This deep, lifelong dedication led to extraordinary, resonant performances that were a gift to audiences, the actors he worked with, and the art of acting itself.”

Yulin made his New York stage debut in Next Time I'll Sing to You in 1963 before making his Broadway debut in Watch on the Rhine in 1980, which was followed by roles in The Price, The Visit, The Diary of Anne Frank and Hedda Gabler, as well as directing The Glass Menagerie, The Trip to Bountiful and The Man Who Came to Dinner. The Los Angeles native's first film role came in the black comedy drama End of the Road in 1970, working alongside James Earl Jones and Stacy Keach.

Yulin later appeared in the films Scarface (1983), Ghostbusters II (1989), Clear and Present Danger (1994), Bean (1997), Rush Hour 2 (2001), Training Day (2001) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012). The actor also made numerous television appearances, which included being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for a guest role on Frasier in 1996, having a major arc on the Netflix series Ozark and making appearances on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 24, Veep, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Billions.

“I just do the next thing that comes along,” Yulin said of his career during a 2010 interview with the Irish Times. “Whatever comes along that I want to do or that I feel I need to do. Oftentimes the things one does you don’t think of doing or you have no idea that you’re going to do.”

Yulin's family said he was working on the MGM+ series American Classic prior to his death, reuniting with director Michael Hoffman, who he previously worked with on the 2005 film Game 6.

“Harris Yulin was very simply one of the greatest artists I have ever encountered,” Hoffman said in a statement obtained by the New York Post. “His marriage of immense technique with an always fresh sense of discovery, gave his work an immediacy and vitality and purity I’ve experienced no where else."

“And what he was as an actor, he was as a man, the grace, the humility, the generosity,” he added. “All of us at ‘American Classic’ have been blessed by our experience with him. He will always remain the beating heart of our show.”

On-Air Schedule

Krista Hatcher