Richard Gilliland passes away at 71
Richard Gilliland, a popular face of Television, passed away on March 18 in Los Angeles after only a brief illness, as per a statement from his family.
He was married to his Designing Women costar Jean Smart, who he met while working on the CBS sitcom and they had tied the knot in 1987. The actor had a recurring role in the series as J.D. Shackleford, the on-again, the off-again love interest of Annie Potts‘ Mary Jo.
The couple had also worked together on 24, with Gilliland as Captain Stan Cotter and Smart as First Lady Martha Logan, and in the TV movies Just My Imagination and Audrey’s Rain , and were a TV favorite. They were supposed to perform together again this summer in a film directed by Tate Taylor. The couple has two children, Connor and Bonnie.
He was born on January 23, 1950, in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended Chicago’s prestigious Goodman School of Drama before moving to Los Angeles. He worked from the 1970s to 2010s, frequently appearing in guest roles on TV, in The Love Boat to St. Elsewhere and Dexter. He also worked in theatre, appearing in productions of Cops, Beyond Therapy, I Remember You, Little Egypt and Amadeus (as Salieri).
