Juvenall Wilson

What a sad way to start the new year. Cult icon Patrick Cranshaw has passed away.

The veteran character actor died of natural causes Wednesday at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, his personal manager, Jeff Ross, told the Los Angeles Times.

During a career that spanned nearly 50 years, Cranshaw had dozens of roles, including a bank teller in “Bonnie and Clyde” and a demolition derby owner in “Herbie: Fully Loaded” (2005). Other credits included “Bandolero” (1968), “Best in Show” (2000) and “The Hudsucker Proxy” (1994), as well as television series “Mork & Mindy” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
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But he was probably best known for his role as elderly frat boy Joseph “Blue” Palasky in “Old School,” starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn.

In the hit comedy, he was about to wrestle two topless girls but dies of an apparent heart attack from overexcitment. After singing “Dust in the Wind” at Blue’s funeral, Ferrell’s character calls out in agony: “You’re my boy, Blue!”

On the bright side, at least he went out on a high note. His character from Old School will live on for years and years. That more than most other actors will ever have said about them.