‘Jaws 2’ Actor Marc Gilpin Dead at 56 from Cancer
The child star died in Dallas on Saturday after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer
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Marc Gilpin, best known for starring in Jaws 2 as a child actor, has died at age 56.
His older sister, Frasier’s Peri Gilpin, confirmed the news of his death to The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor died in Dallas on Saturday after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer.
In addition to playing the younger son of Jaws lead Roy Schneider in the 1978 sequel, the Austin native had also scored roles on NBC’s CHiPs and ABC’s Fantasy Island a year later, then worked with the late River Phoenix in 1985’s Surviving.
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After working several more times as an actor, including an appearance on NBC’s Silver Spoons with Ricky Schroeder the same year, he cut his film and TV career short and later became a self-taught software engineer and started a family.
Following Gilpin’s brain cancer diagnosis in 2022, friends set up a GoFundMe to help raise funds for the husband and father of two, who was also facing financial hardship and struggling to find work with his medical condition.
Doctors found two tumors. One of the tumors, found in the central area of his brain, could not be surgically removed due to its location, the site shared.
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In April, Gilpin’s doctors found new growth and he had to switch to a stronger chemotherapy treatment.
“Marc is an amazingly strong man and he wants to continue the battle. So do I and our boys [Spencer and Presley],” Gilpin’s wife Kaki wrote at the time. “Any parent would be so proud of their kids if you could see how Spencer and Presley are living with this. Their kindness, quick to action, even quicker to forgive when we get snappy that they have displayed is incredible.”
Signing off with a powerful reminder, the elementary school teacher added, “LOVE YOUR PEOPLE, at all times, under all circumstances and with force.”
