US TV actor Peter Scolari dies aged 66

Peter Scolari arrives at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Peter Scolari, a versatile actor whose TV roles included roles in Newhart and Girls, has died at the age of 66.

Scolari died on Friday morning in New York after fighting cancer for two years, according to Ellen Lubin Sanitsky, his manager.

He first gained attention as Tom Hanks’ co-star in the 1980s sitcom Bosom Buddies, in which their characters disguised themselves as women to live in affordable, females-only housing.

The two actors went on to work together in projects including Hanks’ 1996 movie directorial debut That Thing You Do! and in 2013’s Lucky Guy, Nora Ephron’s play about newspaper columnist Mike McAlary.

Tom Hanks (David Parry/PA)

Scolari also played on Broadway in Wicked, Hairspray and 2014’s Bronx Bombers – in which he played baseball’s Yogi Berra.

His recent roles included Bishop Thomas Marx on the supernatural series Evil. Series co-creator Robert King remembered him as “just wonderful”.

Scolari was “one of the funniest — sneakily funny — actors we’ve worked with. He always took a nothing scene and found different ways to twist it, and throw in odd pauses that made it jump,” King said on Twitter.

He received three Emmy nominations playing husband Michael to Julia Duffy’s character Stephanie and boss to Bob Newhart’s inn owner and local TV host in the 1980s sitcom Newhart.

In 2016, he won an Emmy Award for the role of Ted Horvath, father to Lena Dunham’s Hannah, in Girls. In the course of the dramedy created by Dunham, Ted comes out as gay and leaves his wife to find fulfilment.

Scolari’s more than four-decade career included guest roles on ER, White Collar and Blue Bloods.

Scolari whose previous marriages ended in divorce, is survived by his wife, actor Tracy Shayne, who played opposite him as Berra’s wife in Bronx Bombers.

Scolari’s survivors also include his children Nicholas, Joseph, Keaton, and Cali.