'70s film star Lance Kerwin, who starred in the TV series James at 15 and the first adaptation of Salem’s Lot, has passed away at the age of 62, in San Clemente, California. His daughter Savanah Kerwin announced the sad news on Tuesday via a social media post, writing, “Lance Kerwin passed away yesterday morning. We appreciate all the kind words, memories, and prayers that have been shared. She went on to assure his fans and friends, "He loved each and every one of you."

The actor began his career as a child, debuting on a 1974 episode of Emergency! and appearing in the after-school special The Boy Who Drank Too Much. Perhaps he’s best known for James at 15, created by Dan Wakefield and written by Wally Dalton, Bill Nuss, Dan Wakefield and Shelley Zellman, which made him a teen sensation in the '70s when he played a boy struggling to cope with growing up — it ran for just 21 episodes but made him a major teen heartthrob. He went on to star in the miniseries Salem's Lot, based on Stephen King's second novel. The adaptation was directed by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, and Kerwin played Mark Petrie, a teen who becomes a vampire hunter starring alongside the likes of David Soul and James Mason. The series was much loved by fans and critics, and the vampire horror fest was popular s enough to be released as a feature overseas.

Kerwin steadily worked in the '80s, appearing in TV shows and movies like The Boy Who Drank Too Much with Scott Baio, Enemy Mine, and guest starring on shows like Simon & Simon and Murder, She Wrote. His other notable works include the TV series Shazam!, Wonder Woman, Insight, The Family Holvak, A Killer in the Family, Reflections of Murder, The Mysterious Stranger, Faerie Tale Theatre: The Snow Queen, The Fourth Wise Man, Final Verdict , Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy and many more. One of his last roles was in the 1995 movie Outbreak, and he returned to the screen last year in David L. Cunningham’s western drama The Wind and the Reckoning as Anderson.

lance kerwin salem's lot
Image via Warner Bros. 

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After his acting career Kerwin, had been a pastor in Hawaii. He is survived by his wife of over 20 years, Yvonne, and five children: Savanah, Fox, Terah, Kailani, and Justus. Our thoughts are with his friends and family in these trying times.