Sam Lloyd, a longtime television and film actor who appeared in the television shows “Scrubs” and “Desperate Housewives,” died Thursday at the Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 56.
Kevin Turner, a representative for Mr. Lloyd, confirmed his death Saturday. He died of complications from lung cancer, his family said in a statement.
In January 2019, Mr. Lloyd began experiencing headaches and sought medical attention, according to a GoFundMe account set up for the actor.
A scan revealed a mass on his brain, and he soon underwent surgery, but the tumor was “too intertwined” to be removed, the website said. Mr. Lloyd was told that the cancer in his brain had metastasized from his lungs. Additional scans showed that the cancer had spread to his liver, spine, and jaw.
Samuel Lloyd Jr. was born Nov. 12, 1963, in Springfield, Vt., to Marianna McGuffin and Samuel Lloyd Sr.
The son of two aspiring actors, Mr. Lloyd spent his life in theater and in music, said his sister, Laurel Lloyd.
In Vermont, he was a part of their mother’s children’s theater group, the Green Mountain Trolls, and later a member of the Weston Playhouse, where he continued to act as recently as 2017.
Mr. Lloyd’s sister said the actor had had an innate sense of humor that he honed over time. His deadpan comedy and pratfalls were Mr. Lloyd’s craft, his wife, Vanessa Villalovos, said, but the man she knew “was just a tender, genuine soul.”
On Saturday, she praised her husband’s looks: “If he had hair,” she said, he would rival some of the most handsome actors in Hollywood.
Mr. Lloyd acted in dozens of television shows and films, including 95 episodes of “Scrubs” as Ted Buckland, a sad-sack lawyer with a hangdog look and low self-esteem.
Zach Braff, one of the stars of “Scrubs,” said on Twitter on Friday that Mr. Lloyd was one of the funniest actors he had worked with.
“Sam Lloyd made me crack up and break character every single time we did a scene together,” he said.
Mr. Lloyd also appeared in several episodes of “Desperate Housewives” as Dr. Albert Goldfine, according to IMDb; in episodes of “Seinfeld,” “Modern Family,” “The West Wing,” “Cougar Town,” and “Malcolm in the Middle”; and in the films “Flubber” (1997) and “Galaxy Quest” (1999).
Mr. Lloyd was also a musician, according to his talent agency, Daniel Hoff Agency.
He sang in the Blanks, an a cappella group that made several appearances on “Scrubs” as the Worthless Peons, the agency said in a statement. Mr. Lloyd also played bass guitar in the Butties, a Beatles tribute band.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Lloyd leaves his son, Weston; his stepmother, Barbara Lloyd; his sisters, Laurel Lloyd, Robin Lloyd and Sandy Yaple; and his uncle, actor Christopher Lloyd.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Villalovos said. “It never will. It just feels like he will walk through the door.”