Michael Newman dies at 68: What was the cause of death of the ‘Baywatch’ actor?

Baywatch fans are mourning the death of the one of the television series’ longest-serving stars. Michael Newman passed away at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Sunday, surrounded by family members, he was 68.

Lifeguard experience lands Newman a job in hit TV series

Newman stumbled into acting by chance and had several minor acting roles during his career but was best known for playing Mike ‘Newmie’ Newman in Baywatch - the hit 1990s action drama about a team of Californian lifeguards and their relationships both in and out of the job.

Curiously, Newman was the only member of the Baywatch cast who actually was a lifeguard in real life - he was a Santa Monica Junior Lifeguard and worked as a an L.A. County lifeguard for over 20 years alongside his elder brother.

He was initially hired as a technical director and stuntman for the 1989 pilot, Baywatch: Panic at Malibu Pier, and appeared in uncredited roles during the the first few episodes of the series. Eventually, scriptwriters starting giving him a few lines of dialogue until he became a fully fledged member of the cast, alongside the show’s big stars, David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra.

Newman receives bombshell diagnosis after turning 50

Newman appeared in 150 episodes of the show, leaving at the same time as Hasselhoff after Season 10 in 2000 to pursue other ventures - although still in the line of saving lives... as a firefighter. However his life turned around in 2006 when family members noticed that he was walking unusually and becoming slower physically. Following a visit to the doctor and a series of tests, Newman was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease .

“This terminal disease has allowed me a lot of thinking time, which I maybe didn’t want, but it’s brought me wisdom,” he told People. “My body has changed so slowly that I hardly notice it, yet I am constantly reminded that Parkinson’s has now become the center of my life”.

“Everything changes,” he explained. “All those things that you thought you were going to do with your children and grandchildren - pictures we were going to take, all the plans I had… stopped”.

He bravely battled the condition for 18 years and was reported to be taking up to 10 different medications a day. The disease had taken its toll on him and he passed away in hospital in the UCLS campau in in Westwood, Los Angeles on Sunday.

Newman is survived by his wife Sarah, his children: Chris and Emily and his one-year-old granddaughter, Charlie.