Ryan Reynolds and More RememberRoseanneProducer and Writer Eric Gilliland After He Dies at 62

Mar. 15, 2025

AMBER De VOS /Patrick McMullan via Getty

“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,“Ryan Reynoldswrote on hisInstagram.

From there, theDeadpoolstar recalled how the pair became instant friends upon meeting each other. Their friendship lasted for nearly three decades.

“I traveled all over the world with Eric,” Reynolds continued. “He introduced me to Vaudeville and Jack Benny and welcomed me into his friend circle of impossibly talented writers and performers. He was my university.”

Recalling her friend, she continues, “Eric’s gift wasn’t that he was incredibly smart and funny and warm and talented, his gift was that he madeyoufeel that way.”

“It just felt so good to be around him. I look at his Facebook page with all the tributes pouring in and realize, Eric was the ultimate connector. There was enough of him to go around for everyone. But now that he’s gone, I think a lot of us are wondering what we’re going to do without him.”

Actress Angelina Jolie, associate producer Dermot Mulroney, co-producer Eric Gilliland, actress Nicole Kidman and executive producer Brad Pitt arrive at Newmarket Films premiere of “God Grew Tired of Us” at the Pacific Design Center on January 8, 2007 in West Hollywood, California.Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

Longtime friend andCampside Mediaproducer Mark McAdam, who first met Gilliland when he was a writer’s assistant onRoseanne, tells PEOPLE: “Eric was the Pied Piper of friendship. He had an easy way of connecting people from every walk of life: teachers, chefs, artists, West Village regulars, and Hollywood royalty, and he made us all feel equally funny and special.”

McAdam adds, “If you said something that made him laugh, he’d give you a dollar bill. And it was the best money you ever earned. Because he was brilliant and hilarious.”

Modern Familyco-creator Steve Levitan, who went to middle school with Gilliland, shared a sentimental statement on Facebook.

ActressMartha Plimptonalso shared memories of Gilliland on her Instagram.

“I don’t have the ability to find the older pictures right now,” she wrote. “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, Eric Gilliland.”

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Peccini notes that the staff at the hospital where Gilliland spent his final days commented on how many visitors he had coming and going each day.

“It was a revolving door until the very end,” she says.

source: people.com