Howard Stern is mourning the death of one of his famous “Wack Pack” members.
On Saturday, Eric “The Actor” Lynch, a regular caller on Stern’s show the Howard Stern Show, died at the age of 39.
Through a decade of calls (he had been calling since 2002), the three foot tall man struck up a unique love-hate relationship with Stern.
“Despite our sometimes testy on-air relationship the entire staff absolutely loved Eric the Actor,” Stern’s website said on Monday.
“When he visited the show in person everyone lined up to take pictures with him,” the site added. “And not just us — celebrities all over the world loved Eric.”
Eric’s manager Johnny Fratto confirmed his death on Twitter. “I am so sorry and so sad to inform everyone that my friend Eric “The Actor” Lynch passed away yesterday afternoon!!!” Fratto tweeted.
I am so sorry and so sad to inform everyone that my friend Eric "The Actor" Lynch passed away yesterday afternoon!!! pic.twitter.com/6aH9LdFEWW
— Johnny Fratto (@JOHNNYFRATTO) September 21, 2014
On Monday, Stern took the opportunity to mourn his friend on his Sirius radio show.
“You’d think that a guy that had absolutely so little going on and really needed me for trips to the bunny ranch or needed me for his fame fix, it didn’t matter…what was so fascinating was he would just give me s–t every single day and stand up to me,” Stern said.
Eric the Actor was my all-time favorite @HowardStern caller and I will miss him terribly #ByeForNow
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) September 22, 2014
While Eric’s condition was never fully explained, he had previously revealed that he had outlived the doctor’s expectations.
“Thirty-nine is still way too long, but for what he was dealing with, it was pretty amazing that he lasted that long,” Howard added. “Because I knew Eric’s situation with his health, I knew that we’d lose him at any time. But I never really thought the day would come, you know what i mean? He just seemed to be beating the odds…”
