Howard Stern Show Regular, Eric “The Actor” Lynch, Dead at 39

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Eric the Actor
Fans of The Howard Stern Show were in mourning this weekend, as news hit the Internet that long-time Stern Show contributor, Eric “Eric the Actor” Lynch, had died at age 39.

The sad news first broke wide via the Twitter account of Lynch’s close friend and associate, and fellow Stern Show regular, Johnny Fratto, who tweeted on Sunday evening; “I am so sorry and so sad to inform everyone that my friend Eric “The Actor” Lynch passed away yesterday afternoon!!!”.

Lynch only ever appeared on the Stern Show in person once, but called into the show on a nearly daily basis at times, for over 12 years. Eccentric, feisty, obsessed with popular culture, and never seemingly all that fond of and/or amused by the Stern Show itself, fan opinion on Eric was divided but almost always passionate. To his many fans, Eric was the best thing that ever had happened to Stern.

A little person, said at various times to measure between 3 feet and 3 foot 5, Lynch suffered from various ailments; including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which left his hands disfigured. He also had a clubbed foot, which left him wheelchair bound. One of his many memorable traits that endeared him to fans, however, is that none of this seemed to daunt him particularly.

As news began to spread, fans and/or friends of the Stern Show took to Twitter to pay tribute, and for a period of time Lynch overtook even the Sunday NFL trends to be the top trending topic; something that, as has been pointed out elsewhere, would have meant a whole lot to him.

Here are some of the celebrity tweets paying tribute to Lynch:

Eric the Midget tributes
Lynch’s original nickname on the show was a slur referencing his stature, which he hated. As an alternative, he suggested the “The Actor” monicker; reflecting his thespian ambitions. With the Stern Show‘s help, Lynch wound up appearing in brief speaking cameos in a number of TV shows over the years, including American Dreams, Fringe, In Plain Sight, and Legit.

While Stern himself has expressed his sincere admiration for Lynch’s indomitable spirit over the years, he has yet to publicly comment on his passing as of this writing. By 6 AM ET on Monday, however, we suspect that will have changed.

UPDATED: The Stern Show’s site had provided this update here.

Here is Eric when he appeared on the Fox series, Fringe, in 2010: