Veteran stage and screen actor Roberts Blossom has died of natural causes in Santa Monica, California. He was 87.

Blossom’s 40-year career included films like ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Christine,’ and TV series such as ‘Northern Exposure’ and ‘Chicago Hope.’

But he’s perhaps best known for playing “Old Man Marley” in the classic holiday movie ‘Home Alone,’ in which he stole the hearts of audiences as the wrongly accused South Bend Shovel Slayer who saves Macaulay Culkin’s mischievous Kevin McCallister from certain doom at the hands of the Wet Bandits.

“That’s certainly the one he gained the most recognition from, and people still remember him from that,” said his daughter, Deborah Blossom. “He was very happy with the outcome of that movie and its popularity, and he was very happy to be recognized for it.”

In addition to Deborah, Robert Blossom is survived by his son Michael.

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