Reality TV pioneer William Loud, patriarch of “An American Family,” died Thursday at the age 97.
Loud died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 Thursday morning, according to a Facebook post by his family Thursday.
The real life of Loud, his wife Patricia, and five children was displayed in a 1973 12-episode PBS series called "An American Family."
It was intended to depict the life of a typical American middle-class family, but it featured instead his divorce and his son Lance’s groundbreaking announcement that he was gay.
The series captured a 10-million-viewer audience, and 10 years later, HBO ran a sequel, “An American Family Revisited: The Louds 10 Years Later.”
The HBO film “Cinema Verite,” starring James Gandolfini, Tim Robbins, and Diane Lane, was based on the Louds' story.
Loud and Patricia reconciled after Lance died of HIV and Hepatitis-C at the age of 50, 28 years after the first series aired.
“Husband, father, entrepreneur, and veteran of WWII and the Korean Conflict, his intelligence, creativity and enthusiasm carried him across the world. He was a generous provider, a great storyteller, and a truly gentle man,” the Facebook entry said. “If you never met him or only knew him from television ... you missed a lot.”
The family asked in the post that donations be made in Loud's name to The Rescue Train in lieu of flowers.
Commenters left their condolences.
“So sorry for your loss,” Mary Tiegreen wrote. “He must have been a very special visionary man. Will donate to the animals in his memory. Wishing you a peaceful heart...”
Jimmy McNeil wrote, “Oh, no. Sorry for your loss. An icon & legend.”
“I extend my deepest sympathy to the entire family,” Michele Orris Modugno wrote. “Rest In Peace Bill!”
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