Soap star Nick Benedict, best known for starring in All My Children and Days of Our Lives, died on Friday, July 14, which was also his birthday. He had just turned 77.

An online obituary broke the news, revealing that he passed away in Arizona “of complications from spinal surgery,” which he had undergone July 2.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the news was also shared by the Facebook page of a Tehachapi, Calif. restaurant called Jake’s Steakhouse, where his wife Ginger was a bartender.

The post read, “Nick Benedict’s birthday was July 14. He went to be with the Lord this day. Please pray for Ginger,” and linked to a GoFundMe page. The fundraiser was launched a week ago on behalf of Ginger, who took a leave of absence in order to support Benedict in healing from his “extreme health issue.”

The page also shared that Benedict was admitted to hospice on July 4, and was “paralyzed from the neck down.”

Benedict followed in his father Richard “Pepe” Benedict’s footsteps, as he was an Italian-American actor and director; he later died in 1984. Benedict’s first role as a child actor was in 1955’s Wiretapper, a crime drama based on the true story of an ex-con electronics expert who ends up working for the mob.

His later work includes appearances in episodes of Hawaii Five-O, Ironside and Mission: Impossible, prior to his breakout role as Phillip Brent in All My Children in 1977. He began his role as Curtis Reed on Days of Our Lives in 1993, and was featured in 93 episodes up until 2001.

The Soap Opera Network honored the “veteran daytime actor” on their Twitter.

In 1981, the soap star spoke to the Hi-Desert Star about his career, explaining that he was “always trying to find something new and different.”