December 4, 2022: ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and ‘Payday’ actor Cliff Emmich passed away at the age of 85 after he lost his battle with lung cancer. His demise was confirmed by Emmich’s representative.

The jovial actor was raised in Los Angeles, California, and was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1936.

He was given the name Clifford after his father, a well-known exotic automobile dealer who catered to celebrities like Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, and Ozzie Nelson. He joined the Air Force as a photo technician after graduating from John Muir High School in 1955 with his class.

Emmich next attended classes at the Pasadena Playhouse before touring the nation with the American Repertory Players. He spent the summer giving performances at Jackson Hole, Wyoming’s Pink Garter Theatre. He was best remembered for playing Chicago in the 1973 movie ‘Payday,’ which featured Rip Torn’s honky tonk singer Maury Dann riding in the backseat of a Cadillac automobile.

Alongside co-stars Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges, Emmich went on to play a Western Union security guard in the 1974 movie ‘Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.’

In ‘Halloween II’ in 1981, Emmich kept the security guard job he had previously played.

In the two-part ‘Fonzie’s Funeral’ episode of ‘Happy Days’ from 1979, he also had the role of ‘The Candy Man,’ a forger.