Peter Scolari, who rose to fame opposite Tom Hanks on Bosom Buddies, passes at age 66 following cancer battle

• Peter Scolari, who rose to fame opposite Tom Hanks on the series Bosom Buddies, has passed at age 66
• The Emmy award winning actor passed following a two year long battle with cancer
• Scolari was nominated three times for an Emmy for the sitcom Newhart
• He won an Emmy for his role playing Lena Dunham's on-screen father Tad Horvath on Girls in 2016

Bosom Buddies star and Emmy award winning actor Peter Scolari has passed at the age of 66 following a two year long battle with cancer. 

His manager, Ellen Lubin Sanitsky at Wright Entertainment, confirmed his death, according to Variety.

Scolari, who died Friday morning, starred opposite Tom Hanks in the cancelled comedy show Bosom Buddies, which saw the two actors play men dressing in drag in order to live in an affordable, women-only property. 

The show was ultimately cancelled after two seasons in 1982, but the actors remained friends and worked together on subsequent projects, including Hanks' directorial debut, That Thing You Do! 

Scolari has been nominated four times in his life for an Emmy - three times for his role in the sitcom Newhart, and again in 2016 for playing Lena Dunham's on-screen father Tad Horvath on Girls. 

His portrayal of Tad, a man who comes out as gay and starts a new life in New York, earned him his first Emmy win for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series. 

Scolari was not among the initial list of actors announced as nominees, but was later added when Veep actor Peter MacNicol was disqualified for appearing in a little more than 50% of the series, which is considered too much for a 'guest' actor, according to Deadline.  

'When the nomination did come through in the way that it did, I was really quite taken aback and flush with gratitude and really humbled by it, thinking that this is a gigantic privilege,' Scolari said after winning the trophy. 

'There's about 50 to 100 other actors who are on the ballot, and I'm in the Academy, I looked through, there's a lot of staggeringly talented actors, so I'm not quite so sure what it is I've done to get here, but I know I'm lucky, I can promise you that.'

Scolari's long list of credits include roles as producer Michael Harris on Newhart, Commissioner Loeb on Gotham in 2015, and Wayne Szalinski on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show. 

His most recent role was that of Bishop Thomas Marx on the Paramount+ series Evil.

In addition to his work on screen, he also acted on Broadway with roles in Hairspray, Wicked, Sly Fox, Magic/Bird, and Bronx Bombers.

He reunited with Hanks in 2013 for a production of Lucky Guy at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre.

Scolari, who has tied the knot four times, has been married to actress Tracy Shayne since 2013.

Hanks attended Scolari's wedding to Shayne, where he delivered a speech the actor remembered with fondness during an interview on Oprah.

'When Tracy and I got married, Tom got up to speak. To be honest with you, I thought he was going to tease me and make fun of me a little bit,' he recalled. 

'And he didn't tease me at all, he actually said, 'We should all be a little more like him because he never stopped trying. He doesn't give up.'

'Can you imagine such a thing? I cannot get my mind around what I've done in my life to deserve this kind of affection.' 

Scolari is survived by Shayne and his four children, Nicholas, Joseph, Keaton and Cali.

Lena Dunham, who appeared with the actor in Girls, wrote a lengthy tribute to the late performer that was shared to her Instagram account, where she described him as 'the shyest extrovert, the most dramatic comedian, the most humble icon.'

The actress added: 'You had lived enough life to know that a TV show was just a TV show, but also to appreciate just what it meant to be allowed to play pretend for a living- and you never let us forget that this job was a privilege.' 

She concluded by writing, 'I couldn’t have been raised up by a better TV "papa." Thank you, Scolari, for every chat between set ups, every hug onscreen and off and every "Oh, Jeez." We will miss you so much.'

Mark Hamill also wrote a brief tribute to the late figure that was shared to his Twitter account, where he expressed that he was a fan of the actor's performances. 

'What a wonderful actor he was! So sad to hear of the loss of the versatile Peter Scolari. I never had the chance to work with him, but I'm grateful for a lifetime of his brilliant performances #gonetoosoon.'