His track 'History Can't Be Stopped' was released the day after he died.Ī native of Iowa, Leachman moved to neighboring Illinois to study theater at Northwestern University. The Los Angeles native was still making music and actively promoting his songs at the time of his death. In 2009, he told RadarOnline that he was awaiting surgery after 'over 10 episodes of heart failure in the last eight months alone.' Doctors identified a problem with his aorta, which was 'the same thing that killed John Ritter,' Thompson said. Thompson had been dealing with heart issues for over a decade. 'Since the first day I met him on the set of 'ER,' he absolutely made me feel at home and welcomed. 'What a special spirit we have all lost,' Thompson's former castmate Mekhi Phifer said in an Instagram tribute message. He made his 'ER' bow the following year, beginning a near-200 episode run on the NBC hit. He went on to land roles in the hip hop mockumentary 'Fear of a Black Hat' and the N.W.A parody picture 'CB4,' both released in 1993. Thompson made his first feature film appearance in 1991's 'Cool as Ice,' the critically panned movie debut of Vanilla Ice.
