ON Tuesday, actor Micheal Cole died aged 84 leaving behind his wife Shelley Funes and three children.
The Mod Squad actor died at the Providence Centers-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, his publicist confirmed.
Born in Wisconsin on July 3, 1940, the actor married three times with his last marriage lasting over 30 years until his death.
He was brought up by his mother and grandmother and started drinking at the age of 12 before dropping out of high school at 16.
Cole soon married his first wife with whom he had his first two children Candi and Jeff.
However, the young couple’s relationship was fleeting as they divorced after four years together.
In 1971, he married Paula Kelly Jr, the daughter of two members of the vocal group The Modernaires, Paula Kelly and Harold Dickinson.
The couple had their first child Jennifer Holly Cole just a year after their wedding in 1972.
But Cole’s rise to success and his struggles with alcohol saw the couple divorce sometime after their daughter was born.
Kelly Jr died on April 26, 2012, surrounded by her close family at UCLA.
Then, in 1989, it was the third time lucky for the General Hospital actor when he met Shelley Funes.
It is not known how the couple met but Funes is believed to have been working as an ad sales representative at the time.
Michael Cole of ‘The Mod Squad’ and ‘General Hospital’ dies
Funes was crucial to Cole’s recovery from drug and alcohol addiction as she encouraged him to go to the Betty Ford rehab center.
The troubled actor completed the program there in 1994.
After his recovery, he started working again taking on roles in shows such as ER, Diagnosis Murder, and Mystery Woman.
Funes and Cole married in 1996, a partnership that lasted until his death.
He long said his greatest achievements were his marriage to Funes and his sobriety.
In 2016, Cole opened up about his third marriage and his addiction telling Closer Weekly:
“My wife Shelley said, ‘You better go to the Betty Ford Center,’ And I wound up there within two days.
“I didn’t want to lose her — and she was right.
“My wife’s love made me realize that I had to recover. With love, every day is the best day.”
