Actor Richard Gilliland, Husband of Jean Smart, Dies at 71 Following a 'Brief Illness'

Photo: Eric Charbonneau/WireImage

Veteran actor Richard Gilliland died last week at the age of 71.

Gilliland, who was wed to actressJean Smartfor nearly 34 years, suffered from a “brief illness” prior to his death in Los Angeles, according to a press release shared with PEOPLE.

Born in 1950 in Fort Worth, Texas, Gilliland got his career start at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. While there, he took on the role of Jesus inGodspelloppositeJoe Mantegna’s Judas.

Richard Gilliland.Amanda Edwards/Getty

In 1986, he became a series regular on the CBS sitcomDesigning Women, where he met Smart. The actress, who starred as Charlene Frazier Stillfield in the series, recalled their first meeting during a2017 interview.

“I met him when he was kissing someone else,” Smart told Northwest Prime Time of Gilliland, who played the love interest of fellow cast member Annie Potts.

She then asked another cast member, Delta Burke, to figure out if he was married. He was not, and the pair later wed in June 1987 at the home of theirDesigning Womencostars Dixie Carter and Hal Holbrook.

J. Vespa/WireImage

source: people.com