Fred Willard, the comic actor known for his genial but dunderheaded characters, has died. He was 86.

Willard died Friday night at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes. Willard's daughter, Hope Mulbarger, said the actor died `very peacefully.`

`He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much,` Mulbarger said. Willard has a role in the upcoming Netflix comedy series `Space Force` opposite Steve Carell.

Willard was married for 50 years to Mary Willard, a playwright and collaborator with her husband. She died in 2018 at the age of 71.

After getting his start in improv comedy with Second City, Fred Willard was an astonishingly ubiquitous presence especially on TV but also in movies for decades, almost always in small but memorable roles.

Willard was nominated four times for Emmy Awards, three of them (in 2003, 2004 and 2005) for playing Hank on `Everybody Loves Raymond` and the fourth in 2010 for his recurring role as Frank Dunphy, the father of Ty Burrell's Phil Dunphy, on `Modern Family.` Willard's character received a loving sendoff during `Modern Family's` final season with a January 2020 episode that revealed his death.

View this post on Instagram

Emmy-nominated actor Fred Willard has passed away. Jamie Lee Curtis, Steve Carell and more pay tribute at the link in bio.

A post shared by Hollywood Reporter (@hollywoodreporter) on May 16, 2020 at 2:28pm PDT

Willard's survivors include Mulbarger, a son-in-law and grandson.