Nicholas Pryor, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Risky Business Actor, Dead at 89

Hollywood has lost a father figure.

Nicholas Pryor—the actor known for playing Tom Cruise's dad in Risky Business, Robert Downey Jr.'s estranged father in Less Than Zero and the parent of Kathleen Robertson in Beverly Hills, 90210—died of cancer Oct. 7 at his North Carolina home, his wife Christine Belford told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 89.

In a handwritten note posthumously delivered to the outlet, Pryor wrote that he was "enormously grateful to have been, for nearly 70 years, a working actor."

Indeed, Pryor's onscreen career spanned back decades, with the actor starting out in the '70s with roles on Smile and The Gumball Rally.

He went on to appear in '80s hits such as Airplane!, Risky Business and Less Than Zero, before landing a recurring role on Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1994 to 1997.

As a character actor, Pryor worked on many soap operas, including The Secret Storm, The Edge of Night, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, All My Children and Another World. However, his most notable soap role was Victor Collins on the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles, which he played from 1997 to 2002.

In the wake of Pryor's death, his onscreen son Jon Lindstrom described him as an "actor's actor" and an "exceptional friend."

"One of the best I've ever had," Lindstrom wrote in an Oct. 8 Instagram post. "He was a mentor, a sounding board, a trusted confidant, and even a father-figure beyond, yes, playing my own father on #GH and #PortCharles."

Calling Pryor "one of the funniest people you could hope to spend time with over a bottle of good wine and a great meal," Lindstrom added of his former costar, "I will miss him terribly, as will his beautiful wife Christina, his daughter Stacey, and his two grandchildren, Gus and Avril. R.I.P."

In his career, Pryor held over 170 acting credits. In recent years, he appeared on shows including Hart of Dixie, Nashville and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as in films such as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and Doctor Sleep.

"He shared the screen with the likes of #JackNicholson #KurtRussell #EwanMcGregor," Lindstrom noted in his tribute. "Too many to name really."

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