Ryan Reynolds, others tribute 'Roseanne' producer Eric Gilliland: 'It’s a tragedy more people won’t have the chance to know him' (2024)

Eric Gilliland, a TV writer and producer known for his work on Roseanne, has died. He was 62.

Gilliland died on Sunday, Sep. 1, his sister Lisa confirmed to Variety. No cause of death was disclosed, though the news comes months after the writer announced that he underwent surgery in February after years of battling stage 4 colon cancer.

A representative for Gilliland did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.

Following news of Gilliland’s death came an outpouring of love from friends and former colleagues, paying their respects.

Steven Levitan, who has produced such titles as Frasier and Modern Family, wrote on Facebook that he has known Gilliland since middle school.

“Weird, I know, but I found myself thinking this morning that Eric Gilliland would have taken some perverse pleasure in knowing that, of all people, he was outlived by Dick Van Dyke,” Levitan wrote. “That's one of the ways Eric and I bonded back in 8th grade, over our mutual love for The Dick Van Dyke Show. And Monty Python, Jack Benny, The Carol Burnett Show, SNL and bad puns. (Yes, people, we started a pun club).”

After reminiscing about their time together in school, Levitan noted that Gilliland booking a gig as a writer on Roseanne in the early ‘90s inspired him to pursue his own dreams of working in TV. “A job like that would have seemed completely unattainable to me if I hadn't known someone who actually pulled it off,” he wrote. “I guess I figured that if Eric was brave enough to take a chance like that, I should be too. So I owe him a lot for that.”

He added, “I'm really sad that we never got the chance to work together and that we let so much time pass between visits. Rest in Peace, Little Bucky. But first take a big, hammy bow. You deserve it.”

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Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds was also among those who paid tribute to Gilliland, writing, “He was kind. And gentle. And funny as hell. And incapable of holding a conversation that was cruel or tore someone down. It’s a tragedy he’s gone and a tragedy more people won’t have the chance to know him.”

He added that Gilliland was a crucial mentor figure early in his career who “helped me grow and find my voice.”

Gilliland was also remembered by actress Martha Plimpton, who shared several pictures of the writer with the caption, “I don’t know entirely what to do with myself. Today is harder. The world is a less happy and laughter filled place without my friend, @ergill2, Eric Gilliland.”

In his own tribute post, Scandal actor Dan Bucaitinksy wrote, “There are no words. For a man who was so good with his… brilliant. Sweet. Kind. FUNNY. Generous. His legacy is the wake of love he generated from so many friends. Heartbreaking.”

Michael Fishman, who starred as D.J. on Roseanne, also penned a tribute on Instagram. "Heaven got another great writer," he wrote. "They always take the best. I know they're laughing hard. Endless dry wit and an encyclopedia of knowledge, Eric Gilliland is unforgettable."

Born March 28, 1962 in Illinois, Gilliland was a graduate of Northwestern University. He booked his first big TV gig as a writer on Who’s the Boss?, the hit sitcom starring Tony Danza, Judith Light, and Alyssa Milano. After a year with the show, he worked on the coming-of-age comedy The Wonder Years, before serving as a writer and producer on Roseanne from 1992- 1996.

The series, starring Roseanne Barr in the titular role, originally ran for nine seasons and featured in the top four of the Nielsen rating for six of them. It was briefly rebooted in 2018, before spinning off into The Conners.

For his time on Roseanne, Gilliland received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for the show’s 1992 episode, “The Dark Ages.” He later served as a consulting producer for the first two episodes of the spin-off.

Gilliland also produced and penned episodes of Welcome to New York, That '70s Show, Downwardly Mobile, My Boys, and Mr. Sunshine, a short-lived sitcom starring late Friends alum Matthew Perry. He also created the short-lived ABC sitcom, That’s Life, following a blue-collar Queens family, It was canceled a month after its 1998 debut.

His additional writing credits include Women in Prison, Nurses, Live-In, Living Dolls, Married People, and Doogie Howser, M.D. He was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2019 for his work on Netflix’s historical sketch comedy series, The Who Was? Show.