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celebrity.land<\/p>\n
By Hanna Park, Sandra Gonzalez, celebrity.land<\/p>\n
(celebrity.land) \u2014 <\/b>Robert Carradine, <\/strong>known for his roles in \u201cThe Long Riders,\u201d \u201cRevenge of the Nerds\u201d and the television series \u201cLizzie McGuire,\u201d has died at 71, his management company told celebrity.land.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle, and brother Robert Carradine has passed away,\u201d his family said in a statement to Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon on light to everyone around him. We are bereft at the loss of this beautiful soul and want to acknowledge Bobby\u2019s valiant struggle against his nearly two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder,\u201d the family statement said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope his journey can shine a light and encourage addressing the stigma that attaches to mental illness,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n Born March 24, 1954, Robert Carradine was the youngest son of late American actor John Carradine, and the brother of actors David Carradine and Keith Carradine, as well as Christopher Carradine, a former vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering.<\/p>\n Keith Carradine told Deadline the family wanted to share about his brother\u2019s struggle with bipolar disorder<\/a>, saying \u201cWe want people to know it, and there is no shame in it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is an illness that got the best of him, and I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Carradine made his film debut in the 1972 film \u201cThe Cowboys,\u201d which starred John Wayne and Roscoe Lee Browne, before forging a decades-long career in Hollywood across studio films, independent cinema and television.<\/p>\n He garnered huge popularity with his role as Lewis Skolnick, the idealistic leader of a fraternity of social misfits, in the 1984 film \u201cRevenge of the Nerds,\u201d a studio comedy which spawned multiple sequels.<\/p>\n Two decades later, he found a new generation of fans, starring as Sam McGuire in the popular Disney television series, \u201cLizzie McGuire.\u201d<\/p>\n Hilary Duff, who co-starred in the series, paid tribute to Carradine in a post<\/a> on Instagram Tuesday morning, writing, \u201cThis one hurts. It\u2019s really hard to face this reality about an old friend.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering. My heart aches for him, his family, and everyone who loved him,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n Another \u201cLizzie McGuire\u201d co-star, Jake Thomas, called him<\/a> \u201cone of the coolest guys you could ever meet. Funny, pragmatic, sometimes cranky, always a little eccentric.\u201d<\/p>\n