Harry Carey Jr. dies: Western movie and TV character actor was 91

Harry Carey Jr., an actor known for his work in movies like John Ford's westerns and the TV series "Bonanza," has passed away. He was 91.

According to his daughter Melinda Carey, the "3 Godfathers" star died peacefully of natural causes on Dec. 27. "No cancer or nothing, he just got old," she tells Reuters, adding to the Associated Press, "He went out as gracefully as he came in." He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and three adult children.

Carey appeared in more than 80 films and 60 TV shows during his lengthy career. Of them, he made 11 movies alongside John Wayne and also starred in films directed by Ford and Howard Hawks. Towards the end of his career, Carey starred in movies like "Gremlins," "Back to the Future III" and "Tombstone."

"My journey has been that of a character actor," Carey wrote in his 1994 memoir "Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company." "I've worked with the great and the not-so-great. But mostly I've worked with men and women who loved their profession, and who like me, had kids to raise and houses to pay for."