Robert Michael Morris, best known for playing Valerie Cherish's gay hairstylist Mickey Deane on HBO’s The Comeback, died Tuesday. He was 77.

Morris began acting in college, but switched to teaching theater for a number of years. After moving to New York, he got work in commercials and off-Broadway productions, most notably a 1981 staging of Cary Churchill's Cloud Nine directed by Tommy Tune.

"I moved to New York so I could find out what it was like to be a professional actor because my students were all asking questions and all I had was academic knowledge," he told After Elton. "I didn't have any real professional knowledge."

Former student and Sex and the City co-producer Michael Patrick King reached out to Morris to audition for Season One of The Comeback. (King and Lisa Kudrow wrote the part of Mickey with him in mind). He appeared in a number of other comedy series, including Arrested Development, The Middle, 2 Broke Girls and Will & Grace. When HBO greenlighted a second season of The Comeback in 2014, Morris reprised his role as Valerie Cherish’s hairdresser and “guard dog.”

The out performer brought humor and heart to the role, a vital counterpoint when Valerie indulged in typical Hollywood fakeness.

"Robert Michael Morris was an inspiration to write for and to be around," said King. "His creativity was only matched by the joy and gratefulness he felt for each day he got to live his life as an artist.”

On Twitter, Kudrow said Morris was "an example of what a truly good soul looks like."

Asked once what he'd like to see Mickey do in a third season of The Comeback, Morris remarked, "Oh, I don’t know. [Valerie]’s seen me bleeding, she’s seen me naked, she’s seen me laid out on a hospital bed scared out of my mind. It can only go up from there!"