--- description: Emmy-winning actor Edward Herrmann played Richard Gilmore on 'Gilmore Girls' title: 'Gilmore Girls' Actor Edward Herrmann Dies at 71 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9df1dca89d0b9914/698777ca55a8598eaca850a3/185851700.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Gilmore Girls_ Actor Edward Herrmann Dies at 71  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 31, 2014 8:38 PM CUT  Edward Herrmann as Lionel Deerfield on 'The Good Wife' Edward Herrmann as Lionel Deerfield on 'The Good Wife'CBS/Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 31, 2014 8:38 PM CUT Edward Herrmann, the actor best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore’s father Richard on the TV show _Gilmore Girls_, died Wednesday. He was 71 and his death in a New York hospital was confirmed by his manager Robbie Kass. He had been fighting brain cancer. “Edward Herrmann, besides being an accomplished actor, was also a true gentleman and a scholar, as well as being an incredibly kind and decent man,” Kass said. “He will be sorely missed.” Herrmann’s death will be mourned not only by original _Gilmore Girls_ lovers but also a new generation of fans who have discovered the show since it came to Netflix in October. Herrmann won an Emmy for his role in _The Practice_ and recently appeared in several episodes of _The Good Wife_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3651350/edward-herrmann-dead-gilmore-girls/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3651350/edward-herrmann-dead-gilmore-girls/"},"headline":"Gilmore Girls Actor Edward Herrmann Dies at 71","datePublished":"2014-12-31T20:38:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:12:57.080Z","description":"The Emmy-winning actor played Richard Gilmore on the show","url":"https://time.com/3651350/edward-herrmann-dead-gilmore-girls/","keywords":["remembrance","Television","celebrities","Gilmore Girls"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9df1dca89d0b9914/698777ca55a8598eaca850a3/185851700.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9df1dca89d0b9914/698777ca55a8598eaca850a3/185851700.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Good Wife","caption":"The Good Wife","creditText":"CBS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3651350/edward-herrmann-dead-gilmore-girls/","name":"Gilmore Girls Actor Edward Herrmann Dies at 71"}}]}] ```