This past weekend was a celebratory one for The Walking Dead fans, with Season 9 finally getting to debut its new and evolving take on post-apocalyptic life. But it was also a time to mourn, with former star (and all-around acting legend) Scott Wilson passing away at age 76. Understandably, the Internet was awash with loving tributes to Wilson and his work, with many of his Walking Dead co-stars showering his memory with love and praises. And suitably, the premiere episode "New Beginnings" also gave Wilson an honorable tribute at the end of the telecast.
On Saturday, October 6, Scott Wilson passed away, with leukemia being the central cause. His Hollywood career started way back in 1967, the same year he wowed audiences co-starring with Robert Blake in In Cold Blood. He was in a ton of other movies and TV shows over the next 50 years, but arguably none skyrocketed him to the nexus of pop culture quite like the role of The Walking Dead's Hershel Greene.
Scott Wilson played the emotionally weighed-down Hershel for three seasons, in which he saw his family get torn apart, his farm home destroyed, and his leg amputated. (Among other tragedies.) It was a role that didn't provide a lot of hilarious performances or light-hearted scenes, which is partially why the character remains such a big part of fans' memories. But he obviously wasn't so dark and tortured behind the scenes, which is why everyone on The Walking Dead loves and respects him so much. Here's the TV show's appreciative tribute to the late actor.
To be expected, perhaps, Walking Dead star Norman Reedus shared one of the more amusing pics of Scott Wilson, whom he referred to as his "main squizz." One can imagine the conversations these two had must have been classic.
A good chunk of the posts written in Scott Wilson's memory were from his co-stars during those early seasons. Some of them remained on the show after Hershel had been brutally killed off, but not everyone. Laurie Holden's Andrea, for instance, didn't get to make it to that final prison fight. And she hasn't been too happy about that, but she still had lovely words to say about Wilson.
British actor David Morrissey's villainous character The Governor was responsible for decapitating Hershel in the throes of war (and was also partially responsible for Andrea's death. But hey, that's not the kind of person that Morrissey is, and he posted his own sweet words about Wilson.
One of Scott Wilson's former television children is actress Emily Kinney, who starred as the fan-favorite youth Beth Greene, whose death was one of the show's biggest and most contestable shocks. Kinney obviously still cherishes her time on the show, and called Wilson out for being a pretty excellent television parent.
Head to the next page to see more tributes to Scott Wilson from The Walking Dead alum.
One of The Walking Dead's O.G. stars, Sarah Wayne Callies, took some time from her weekend to pay tribute to her former co-star Scott Wilson.
Mega-producer Gale Anne Hurd, who has been a major piece of The Walking Dead puzzle behind the scenes, shared her own loving thoughts about Scott Wilson as both a Hollywood icon and as a family man.
Obviously, Scott Wilson didn't only touch the actors that he physically worked with on the set of The Walking Dead. His influence definitely carried on throughout the years after Hershel's death, as seen in posts from Walking Dead actors who joined the show after Wilson had left. First is Katelyn Nacon, who plays the teenaged Enid.
And then there's Austin Nichols, who played the not-long-for-life Spencer Monroe on The Walking Dead after Rick's crew arrived in Alexandria. Though his character may have lost his gust, Nichols suffered nothing like that. News of Wilson's death did seem to hurt him, though.
Fans will actually get to see Scott Wilson's Hershel Greene again in Season 9, as the actor returned to film an additional scene or two that will likely play into Rick Grimes' final scenes of the series. Find out how it'll all go down when The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC at 9:00 p.m. ET. And visit our fall TV premiere schedule to see all the other genre shows coming our way soon.
