James Lipton has died at the age of 93.
According to TMZ, the Inside the Actors Studio host passed away "peacefully Monday morning (March 2) at his New York City home."
Lipton's wife, Kedakai Turner, told the outlet that he had been battling bladder cancer. She added, "There are so many James Lipton stories but I’m sure he would like to be remembered as someone who loved what he did and had tremendous respect for all the people he worked with."
The veteran host and TV writer was one of Hollywood's most respected wordsmiths. Lipton's love for words and dedication to the arts led him to spearhead one of cable's longest-running series, Inside the Actors Studio, in 1994.
The show was "created to serve as a thinly disguised master class for the students of the Actors Studio Drama School, a joint venture of the Actors Studio and The New School," The Hollywood Reporter reports. It was the culmination of Lipton's long-lasting career, which began in radio and "included stints as an actor, scriptwriter, choreographer, lyricist, author, producer and academic."
Being that Lipton prided himself on "not [dealing] in gossip — only in craft," ITAS was a coveted stop for writers, directors and performers, who would open up to Lipton, giving some of their most honest and raw interviews. Throughout his time as host, Lipton interviewed over 300 guests, including Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, Faye Dunaway, Ron Howard, Anthony Hopkins, Jim Carrey, Al Pacino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Pitt, Betty White, Naomi Watts, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Hugh Grant, and many more.
The show, which had been viewed in "94 million homes in America on Bravo, in 125 countries around the world" and had "received 16 Emmy nominations, making it the fifth most-nominated series in the history of television" by 2016 led to a resurgence in Lipton's acting career, THR reports. He played himself in the 2005 feature Bewitched, appeared on Arrested Development, Glee, Suburgatory, According to Jim, and his voice can be heard in the animated film Bolt.
After 23 seasons, Lipton retired from ITAS in 2018.
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