'The Rockford Files' Star Joe Santos Dead at 84

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RIP Joe Santos.

The actor, who is best known for playing LAPD Lieutenant Dennis Becker on The Rockford Files, died on Friday. Santos, who was 84, suffered a heart attack caused by congestive heart failure that he had been battling for four years.

"It is with great sadness that I can confirm that our father Joe has passed. He was a very loving man and a great father," his son, Joey, told ET in a statement.


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Santos, who also starred on Hardcastle and McCormick in the '80s and more recently appeared on The Sopranos, was put on life support at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, but he never regained consciousness, his family says.

The Emmy nominee's obituary reads, "Joe Santos, born Joseph Minieri in Brooklyn, New York, is survived by his sons, Perry and Joey Santos, his daughter Lilli, his grandson Joe Anthony and his longtime partner Nancy Hobson."

In other sad news, Frank Sinatra Jr. recently died at the age of 72. Find out more about the only son of iconic singer Frank Sinatra in the video below.