Hilary Duff is remembering her TV dad, Robert Carradine, with whom she starred on the Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire.
Carradine died Monday at the age of 71 after a decades-long mental health battle, a representative for his brother, actor Keith Carradine, confirmed to ABC News.
“This one hurts,” Duff wrote on Instagram along with two photos of her with Robert Carradine.
“There was so much warmth in the McGuire family and I always felt so cared for by my on-screen parents. I’ll be forever grateful for that,” Duff continued. “I’m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering. My heart aches for him, his family, and everyone who loved him.”
Jake Thomas, who played Duff’s on-screen brother, Matt McGuire, also paid tribute to his TV dad, writing on Instagram about Robert Carradine’s death, “My heart hurts today.”
“I was fortunate to know Bobby for most of my life. And he was one of the coolest guys you could ever meet. Funny, pragmatic, sometimes cranky, always a little eccentric,” Thomas wrote, later adding, “He was a talented actor, musician, and director. But more than anything, he was family.”
Robert Carradine, who also starred in movies including Revenge of the Nerds and Coming Home, died after a nearly 20-year battle with bipolar disorder, according to his family.
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that “causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration” that are more severe than the usual ups and downs that people experience, according to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.
Robert Carradine was born into the famous Carradine acting family on March 24, 1954, in Hollywood, California. His father was actor John Carradine, who starred in films including the The Grapes of Wrath and Stagecoach, and his mother was actress Sonia Sorel.
Robert Carradine is survived by his children, Marika Reed Carradine and Ian Carradine, whom he shared with his ex-wife, Edie Mani, and Ever Carradine, whom he shared with actress Susan Snyder.
Ever Carradine shared a loving tribute to her dad on Instagram, writing, “I knew my dad loved me, I knew it deep in my bones, and I always knew he had my back.”
“My dad was a lover, not a fighter. He was all heart, and in a world so full of conflict and division, I think we can all take a page out of his book today, open our hearts and feel and share the love,” she continued, in part. “I have a thousand stories and I’m being flooded with memories — so if you see me, please ask me about my dad, Bobby Carradine, who made me who I am. Rest easy, dad. I love you the most.”
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