James Avery Death: Will Smith Remembers 'Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air' Co-Star On Facebook, 'Every Young Man Needs An Uncle Phil,' He Says [VIDEO]
Will Smith took to Facebook to remember his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air costar James Avery, who passed away on New Year's Eve.
"Some of my greatest lessons in Acting, Living and being a respectable human being came through James Avery," he wrote. "Every young man needs an Uncle Phil. Rest in Peace."
Smith, who played the lead character in the show Will, also posted a photo of some of the former cast members taken on the last time they were all together.
The photo, which shows Tatyana Ali (Ashley Banks), Karyn Parsons (Hilary Banks), Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks), Avery (Philip Banks) and Smith, has garnered over one million likes to date and 25,000 plus comments.
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Ribeiro also commented on Avery's death on Twitter on Jan. 1 and wrote, "I'm deeply saddened to say that James Avery has passed away. He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly."
A few days later he also remembered the late actor with a touching Facebook post.
"Here's another photo of James from our wedding. It is still hard to believe he is no longer with us. It feels like yesterday when I would drop by his dressing room and learn about some of the great Jazz music he would listen to," he wrote along with a photo of Avery at Ribeiro's wedding in 2012. "Such a warm, inspiring, wonderful man."
Avery passed away on Dec. 31, 2013 at the age of 68. The actor died in a Los Angeles hospital "due to complications from open heart surgery," a rep told Access Hollywood.
