Baywatch actor Michael Newman dies aged 68

Baywatch stars Donna D'Errico, Michael Newman and Traci Bingham in 1996. Photo / Getty Images

Baywatch star Michael Newman has died at the age of 68.

The actor was best known for his role as lifeguard Mike “Newmie” Newman on the iconic NBC action-drama series, for which he starred in 150 episodes between 1989 and 2000.

Newman died from “heart complications” on Sunday, October 20, his friend, Matt Felker, confirmed to People.

Newman had a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease, which he was first diagnosed with in 2006.

“I got to see Mike the last time he was conscious and he looked [at] me and in typical Mike fashion said, ‘You’re just in time’,” Felker said.

Newman had previously opened up about living with the progressive neurological condition – which affects a person’s mobility and causes stiffness and tremors – and how it impacted his quality of life.

“Everything changes,” he told People in January. “All those things that you thought you were going to do with your children and grandchildren, pictures we were going to take, all the plans I had … stopped.

“It’s a slow burn. Parkinson’s disease doesn’t wait for you. It keeps on ploughing in.”

Michael Newman (left), with Parker Stevenson at the premiere of After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun on August 26, 2024. Photo / Getty Images

Newman’s Baywatch alter-ego was partly based on his real-life experience as a lifeguard.

The actor wasn’t intended to star on the show – which also starred the likes of David Hasselhoff (Mitch Buchannon) and Pamela Anderson (C.J. Parker) – and was initially employed as a stuntman.

“I was too useful for them to get rid of me,” he told the publication.

“I basically started off as a stuntman, and after seven years of being out of the opening credits, I finally was anointed and allowed to be in the front of the show.”

After his stint on Baywatch, Newman retired from acting as he found it “hard” to “look natural” on camera.

“Let’s be honest … there’s not too many actors that have survived the years of working in Hollywood,” he said.

He admitted there are negative sides to the industry that led to his exit, adding: “Having to deal with the people who scratch your name out on the script and put their name on there? That kind of thing … you never get used to that.”

In late August, Newman made an appearance at the premiere of the docuseries After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun alongside former castmates Parker Stevenson, Carmen Electra, Nicole Eggert and Alexandra Paul.

Newman is survived by his wife Sarah, their son Chris, daughter Emily, and granddaughter Charlie.

In January, fellow Baywatch star Nicole Eggert – who starred as Summer Quinn – revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

- Additional reporting by NZ Herald.