Former Lethal Weapon actor Mitchell Ryan has died aged 88.

His stepdaughter, Denise Freed, told the Hollywood Reporter that the actor has passed at his Los Angeles home due to congestive heart failure.

Ryan was well known for his role in the first Lethal Weapon movie where he played a villainous general.

He also played a ruthless businessman on TV’s Santa Barbara.

Ryan also had roles on the soap opera Dark Shadows and the 90s sitcom, Dharma & Greg.

His career spanned more than half a century, beginning with an uncredited role in the 1958 Robert Mitchum film Thunder Road.

Ryan played Burke Devlin on the cult 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows for one series but he was fired because of his alcoholism.

He acknowledged his drinking issues in his 2021 autobiography Fall Of A Sparrow.

“I’m blessed that, 30 years a drunk, I’ve managed to live a working actor’s life to be envied,” he said.

“And I’ve lived a great deal of real life while I was at it.

“Sober for the next 30 years, I’m told that I’ve come out of it all a good and useful human being.”

He also performed in the theatre, including Broadway appearances in Wait Until Dark, Medea and The Price.

Kathryn Leigh Scott, who appeared with him in Dark Shadows, wrote in a Facebook post: “He was a great gift in my life. I cherish my warm memories of his beautiful soul. I’m heartbroken.”