Hilary Duff is mourning the loss of her Lizzie McGuire costar, Robert Carradine.
“This one hurts. It’s really hard to face this reality about an old friend,” Duff, 38, wrote via Instagram early Tuesday, February 24, alongside throwback photos with her former on-screen dad. “There was so much warmth in the McGuire family and I always felt so cared for by my on-screen parents. I’ll be forever grateful for that. I’m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering. My heart aches for him , his family, and everyone who loved him. 💔”
On Monday, February 23, Carradine’s family confirmed his death at age 71 following a battle with bipolar disorder.
“It is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle, and brother Robert Carradine has passed away,” the Carradine family said in a statement to Deadline. “In a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon [of] light to everyone around him. We are bereft at the loss of this beautiful soul and want to acknowledge Bobby’s valiant struggle against his nearly two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder.”
The statement continued, “We hope his journey can shine a light and encourage addressing the stigma that attaches to mental illness. At this time we ask for the privacy to grieve this unfathomable loss. With gratitude for your understanding and compassion.”
The actor’s brother, fellow screen star Keith Carradine, opened up about Carradine’s struggles with bipolar disorder in his own statement to Deadline.
“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” Keith Carradine said. “It is an illness that got the best of him, and I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul. He was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day. We will take solace in how funny he could be, how wise and utterly accepting and tolerant he was. That’s who my baby brother was.”
Carradine was best known for playing Sam McGuire, Lizzie’s dad, in Disney Channel’s hit comedy starring Duff from 2001 to 2004. He reprised his role in 2003’s The Lizzie McGuire Movie. He was also set to return as Sam in a Disney+ reboot which was ultimately scrapped in 2020.
Carradine was also known for his role in 1984’s Revenge of the Nerds.
He is survived by his three children, including Handmaid’s Tale actress Ever Carradine, and his extended family, which includes brother Keith and niece Martha Plimpton.
Carradine’s on-screen son, Jake Thomas, opened up to Us Weekly earlier this year about working with the actor on the set of Lizzie McGuire.
“Bobby Carradine and Hallie Todd, who played my parents. They have always been and will continue to be like an aunt and uncle to me,” Thomas, 36, said, noting that he still saw his on-screen parents from “time to time.”
“They’re basically like family at this point, from going through an experience like that that was so influential in my life and in everybody else’s lives too,” the actor said. “It makes us, in a way, a family that can never be separated.”
