Night Of The Living Dead’s George Kosana Has Died

Horror buffs, the new year has sadly rung in some bad news for fans of Night of the Living Dead. Earlier today, George Kosana passed away.

Today, the actor died at 81-years-old after a long battle with various health conditions. In the past few years, Kosana has experienced a slew of issues such as emphysema, COPD, and macular degeneration. The Pennsylvania native is best-known by fans for his work on George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.

In the film, Kosana was cast as Sheriff McClelland. On Facebook, one of the film’s co-writers took a moment to remember Kosana. You can read his tribute below:

“My close friend George Kosana, who played the sheriff in NOLD, has regrettably passed away after a long battle with various illnesses. He will be greatly missed by me, by his fellow NOLD cast and crew members and by his many fans. For the past few days, I have been constantly reliving my many good and often funny remembrances of him.”

For horror fans, Kosana will be a well-known star. The actor regularly attended horror conventions and reprised his role as Sheriff McClelland in Living Dead and My Uncle John in a Zombie! The actor surely had a soft spot for zombie stories, and fans were always eager to see Kosana return to the genre. The actor has also appeared in other cult projects like There’s Always Vanilla, The Booby Hatch, and Incest Death Squad.

Rest in peace, George Kosana. Our thoughts and well-wishes are with the actor’s loved ones.

[H/T] Bloody Disgusting