Charles C. Stevenson Jr has died aged 95

His son Scott confirmed the news to Variety, and opened up about his late father's habit of landing roles like preachers, priests or pastors.

He said in a statement: "In his own words, his job was 'marrying or burying people,'

"As he told it, the panic-stricken director would invariably come to him to beg him to find a way to fill in unscripted space between 'We are gathered here together' (where he'd probably get his close-up) and the 'amen' at the end of the scene (where he usually wouldn't).

"Stevenson admitted that he got pretty good at that."

Stevenson also appeared in the likes of Dr House and Ghost World, having landed his first acting role at the age of 76 when he played a sheriff in Disney film Snow Buddies.

In the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles and worked with Hollywood stars like Henry Winkler and James Stewart on public community events and public service announcements.

He first joined 1998 sitcom Will and Grace in its fourth season, playing Smitty - a role he would continue when the sitcom return between 2017 and 2020 for its final run.

His other credits included everything from Cheers, Dynasty, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Family Matters to Charmed, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, House, Murder She Wrote and many more.

In the big screen, fans would recognise him from the likes of 1988's The Naked Gun, Ed Wood in 1994, Men In Black in 1997, and Pleasantville the following year.

He is survived by children Charles III and Valerie from his first marriage to Barbara Keller, and kids Catherine, Scott and William from his second marriage to late Hollywood agent Joy Stevenson.

He had eight grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.