Actor Michael Newman of Baywatch died on Sunday, 18 years after he was identified with Parkinson’s illness. He was 68.
Newman, who introduced his real-world lifeguarding expertise to play Michael “Newmie” Newman on the profitable ’80s and ’90s soapy drama, was identified with Parkinson’s in 2006.
His shut good friend, director Matt Felker, introduced information of Newman’s dying on social media on Monday.
Felker, who directed the reflective docuseries After Baywatch: Second within the Solar, advised Individuals journal that Newman died “from coronary heart problems.”
Michael Newman on the premiere of the docuseries “After Baywatch: Second within the Solar” at The Bungalow on Aug. 26, 2024, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Gilbert Flores/Selection through Getty Photos
He mentioned Newman was “surrounded by his household and pals” on the time of his dying.
On social media, Felker wrote, “Mike was not solely an actual life hero. He was a competitor by way of and thru.”
Felker mentioned there have been usually instances whereas producing the Baywatch docuseries that he wished to “throw all of it within the trash,” however didn’t due to Newman’s enthusiasm and assist.
The collection, which premiered this yr, profiles the lives Baywatch stars at present and discusses a lot of the solid’s journey to fame.
“I bought to see Mike earlier than he handed away. He was unconscious principally… after I confirmed up he was awake virtually like a miracle and checked out me and mentioned ‘you’re simply in time’ and laughed,” Felker recalled. “That was Mike. He discovered humor all the best way till the top.”
In August, whereas selling After Baywatch: Second within the Solar, Newman mentioned his Parkinson’s analysis has introduced “lots of considering time, which I perhaps didn’t need, but it surely’s introduced me knowledge.”
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“My physique has modified so slowly that I hardly discover it, but I’m continuously reminded that Parkinson’s has now turn into the centre of my life,” he mentioned.
Parkinson’s illness is a degenerative motion dysfunction of the nervous system that progresses slowly. An individual might first expertise one thing like hand tremors earlier than signs turn into worse over time. The illness impacts bodily capabilities like steadiness, speech and motion. There isn’t any remedy.
Newman appeared in 150 episodes of Baywatch, which ran from 1989 to 2001. He was the one solid member to have precise lifeguarding expertise. The collection famously starred David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Nicole Eggert and Alexandra Paul, amongst many others.
Newman additionally appeared within the spinoff collection Baywatch Evenings and the 1998 movie Baywatch: White Thunder at Glacier Bay.
Donna D’Errico, Michael Newman and Traci Bingham attend a ‘Baywatch’ press occasion at Malibu Seaside in Malibu, Calif., on July 17, 1996.
Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Photos
In addition to appearing, Newman was additionally a full-time firefighter and retired after 25 years of service, even balancing firefighting together with his Baywatch filming schedule.
He was an advocate for Parkinson’s analysis and spent a lot of the final decade elevating cash for the Michael J. Fox Basis, which is devoted to the seek for a remedy.
Newman is survived by his spouse, Sarah, his youngsters, son Chris and daughter Emily, and his granddaughter, Charlie.
In line with Parkinson’s Canada, greater than 12,500 folks within the nation had been identified with the illness between 2019 and 2020. In that very same time-frame, there have been believed to be greater than 103,000 instances of Parkinson’s in Canada.
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