Actor Ed Gale, who is best known for playing the killer doll Chucky in the Child’s Play franchise, has passed away. He was 61.

The actor passed away Tuesday (May 27) in Los Angeles. Gale’s niece Kayse Gale announced his passing on Facebook.

“It is with a heavy heart and a surprisingly light coffin (see what I did there?) that we announce the sudden passing of our uncle, Ed Gale,” Kayse wrote. “Ed Gale has taken his final bow and is now headlining in the afterlife. Ed hitched a ride to California when he was twenty years old, with $41 and a dream, and he never looked back. He lit up the silver screens in cult classic films like Howard the Duck and Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town, earning himself some serious street cred at every con he attended. Which he never stopped bragging about. Ever.”

Kayse highlighted Ed’s career of over 130 credited roles across movies, television, and commercials. “He had one hell of a laugh, and he will be missed. Rest in love you cranky bastard,” she concluded.

Gale’s acting career began in 1986 when he played the titular role in Howard the Duck. He told iHorror that he believed the role helped him get cast as Chucky, a doll possessed by a serial killer, in the Child’s Play films. (In case you were wondering, Chucky was voiced by Brad Dourif, not Gale.)

“I am told Tom Holland requested me personally after hearing that I was Howard the Duck,” Gale said. “He wanted someone physically capable of bringing the costume to life. I was known for doing just that.”

Gale later reprised his role for Child’s Play 2 but revealed he refused to return for the third installment after director John Lafia reportedly made “deplorable” comments about him. Gale later returned for Bride of Chucky, claiming they “begged and begged.”

The actor said it was a “team effort” to bring Chucky to life, but he maintained that he was the one who executed all of Chucky’s movements in the films. “[That’s why] I will not allow people to merely say I was Chucky’s stunt double,” he told the outlet.

Gale’s other credits include roles in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Land of the Lost, The Jungle Book, Tiptoes, and more.

Gale stopped acting in 2020. But in 2023, he was busted for sending sexually explicit messages to someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy. The actor was confronted in his Hollywood apartment as part of a filmed YouTube sting operation organized by a group called the Creep Catcher Unit, according to KTLA5.

He was still being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department at his time of death, according to the New York Post.

In the video, Gale confessed to soliciting naked pictures from minors and estimated that he may have spoken to 10 other underaged victims.

“Yes, I’m admitting I know it was wrong and it was illegal,” Gale says in the video. “I’m admitting that and I’m sorry.”