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Arts & Entertainment

Actor and Former NFL Player Alex Karras Has Only a Few Days to Live [UPDATED]

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Perhaps best known to a generation of TV-watchers as the dad on the 80s sitcom "Webster," actor Alex Karras, 77, now has just a few days to live.Karras has been suffering from dementia, and now is in kidney failure, reports Sports Now. Wife Susan Clark (who played his wife in "Webster") says Karras was diagnosed with dementia "several years ago and has had symptoms for more than a dozen years."

Karras played in the NFL his entire career for the Detroit Lions before becoming an actor. "He is among the many former NFL players suing the league regarding the treatment of head injuries," notes Sports Now. Karras began acting full time when he left the Lions in 1970.

In addition to "Webster," Karras is known for roles in "Blazing Saddles" and "Victor/Victoria," among others.

According to the Detroit Free-Press, friends were informed of Karras' rapidly declining health last week, and told Karras had been treated at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. Karras said he wanted to go home, and Clark obliged. Karras is now in hospice care at the couple's L.A. home.

UPDATE 10/10/12: Karras died Wednesday at home, surrounded by family.

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