John Heard, known for his memorable roles in "Home Alone," "The Sopranos," and "Big" died on Friday. The Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office confirmed to ABC News. Heard was 72, the medical examiner said.
The cause of death is unclear, but the actor underwent back surgery earlier this week and was staying at a hotel while he recovered, according to TMZ. A hotel maid found his body and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
John established himself in the late 1970s and early '80s, though he is perhaps better known for his turns as Macaulay Culkin's father in the Home Alone (1990) movies. In the 1980s he continued to work on A-List projects, playing the not-so-sympathetic son to Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful (1985) (for which Page won her own Oscar) and Tom Hanks's adult rival in Big (1988) (for which Hanks won his first Oscar nomination), but this meant that by the latter part of the decade he had failed to establish himself as a leading man and was doing supporting roles. [IMDB]
