Yesterday, the 65-year-old actor Stanley Kamel died in his Hollywood Hills home of a heart attack. In the hit TV show "Monk," there was an episode where Monk and another patient were competing to show who was the most insanely devoted (and stalkerish) patient to Dr. Charles Kroger played by Kamel. A partular running gag is how Monk is incapable of functioning without Kroger and unfortunately, he will have to do just that -- at least in real life. "USA is deeply saddened by the news of Stanley Kamel's passing... He will be sorely missed,” the network said in a statement.

Kamel has appeared in numerous TV roles over the past three decades, including “The West Wing,” “Six Feet Under,” “Melrose Place,” “The Golden Girls,” “Days of Our Lives” and “Murder One.”

Pop culture fans will remember Kamel from his eight-episode arc in 1995 on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” as Tony Marchette, the father of Rebecca Gayheart’s character. [MSNBC]

Photo via IMDB