Earlier this year Anderson's father Stuart passed away
from complications due to acute leukemia, the
producers of SG1 made sure that the actor could be
with his father during his final days. "My dad had
been given about 3 months to live" he explains. "This
was late last year and the projection was pretty
close. Because we were told this early enough, my
father and I were able to spend time together."
"During those few months, one of my duties was to make
sure that my daughter-his grandaughter experienced the
joy of Stuart Anderson. So on the weekends I'd take
Wylie to San Diego and we would go to the university
Club to watch my dad, who was a jazz bassist. he
performed 3 nights a week and on weekends with a piano
player, which was a combo. Once a month he added a
saxaphone, guitar and drums to make a bigger combo.
Wylie, independent of knowing that my father played
that particular type of music, loved jazz.
The first time she and I walked into the club, her jaw
dropped when she saw him onstage. On each subsequent
visit,Wylie was just as attentive and intrigued by it
all. There's a magnetism about music and certainly
about her Papa Stuart making the music she so loves.
That was the real payoff to the relationship between
my dad and my little girl."
"Just before he died I got a call from his doctor
saying dad had 3 days to live. The people at Stargate
said 'Go'. I got home and over the next two and a half
days my brother Jeff and I served as our dad's primary
caregivers with the hospice as support. My 3 brothers
and I were there at the time of his passing and it was
the most profound moment I've ever experienced. I'm
very grateful that the relationship between my dad and
I was so clean that we didn't need to fix anything. So
there was no panic at all towards the end. Suffice to
say, I truly miss him."
all my condolences go to rick and his family.