Michael Newman, who played lifeguard Mike “Newmie” Newman on “Baywatch,” has died. He was 68.
Newman passed away 18 years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The news was confirmed Tuesday by Newman’s close friend, Matt Felker, who recently directed the Hulu docuseries about “Baywatch.”
The late actor died “from heart complications” on Sunday evening “surrounded by his family and friends.”
“I got to see Mike the last time he was conscious and he looked [at] me and in typical Mike fashion said, ‘You’re just in time,’” Felker told PEOPLE.
Newman was the only “Baywatch” castmember who was a real-life lifeguard. He appeared on 150 episodes of the show, the most of anyone except David Hasselhoff.
The actor was also a full-time firefighter while starring on “Baywatch.” He returned to firefighting after the show ended in 2001 until he retired after 25 years.
Newman was 50 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2006.
His life with the disease was highlighted in “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun,” which explored the cast’s life after being on the beloved show.
“This terminal disease has allowed me a lot of thinking time, which I maybe didn’t want, but it’s brought me wisdom,” Newman told PEOPLE in August.
“My body has changed so slowly that I hardly notice it, yet I am constantly reminded that Parkinson’s has now become the center of my life,” he added.
“I am cherishing the days that I get to be on this earth with family and friends,” he went on. “I’m taking life seriously.”
He shared that the words he lives by are, “It’s not a run-through.”
In the docuseries, Newman revealed that he took 10 medications a day while battling Parkinson’s.
Last year, Newman explained why he retired from Hollywood despite taking “great pleasure” in acting.
“You don’t realize how hard it is to look natural in front of the lens and watch yourself improve and, sometimes, not improve,” he told PEOPLE at the time.
“If you didn’t have to be there, why would you be?” he added of the entertainment industry. “Let’s be honest … there’s not too many actors that have survived the years of working in Hollywood.”
Newman spent the final years of his life raising money with the Michael J. Fox Foundation to help find a cure for Parkinson’s.
The late star is survived by his wife of 36 years, Sarah, their children Chris and Emily, and their 1-year-old granddaughter, Charlie.
