LA Law star Alan Rachins dies aged 82 from heart failure-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

LA Law star Alan Rachins has died (Picture: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

LA Law and Dharma and Greg star Alan Rachins has died.

The 82-year-old actor died in his sleep from heart failure in the early hours of Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

His wife, actress Joanna Frank, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.

Rachins as best known for his long-running role as law partner Douglas Brackman Jr. in L.A. Law, in which he starred from its inception in 1986 until it ended in 1994.

After the legal drama ended, the actor turned his hand to comedy, playing Lawrence ‘Larry’ Finklestein, the hippy father of Jenna Elfman’s Dharma.

He starred in all five seasons of Dharma and Greg, which ran from 1997 to 2002.

He died aged 82 from heart failure (Picture: CBS)

Rachins was best known for Dharma and Greg and LA Law (Picture: Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage)

Speaking about his two most famous roles, Rachins previously spoke about how playing varied characters helped from being typecast in a certain type of part, saying:’I hope so because I love the idea of playing different characters and I wouldn’t want to be stuck doing the same thing all of the time.

‘That’s one of the great things about Dharma & Greg, it really allowed me to do something different.’

He added to New Jersey Stage: ‘But who knows? You just do the next thing that comes along and do the best with it you can and see what happens.

‘It’s a crapshoot and you can’t really exert control.’

Rachins starred alongside Mimi Kennedy in Dharma and Greg (Picture: 20thCentFox/Everett/Shutterstock)

He also had roles in movies including Showgirls and Terminal Voyage and made appearances in the likes of General Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS.

Rachins also held voice parts in projects such as Scooby-Doo!, Rugrats, and The Spectacular Spider-Man.

His last credited role was in the short film The Lights Above in 2023.

Rachins married his wife Joanna after meeting in acting class (Picture: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Rachins met his wife Joanna in acting class and married in 1978.

They played a married couple in 1985’s Always, and the actress also had a recurring role in L.A. Law as Sheila Brackman, the wife of her spouse’s character, with whom he had a tricky relationship.

Rachins is survived by his wife and their son Robert.

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