George Gaynes: Police Academy star dies aged 98

'He was really one of the true gentlemen in the business and was working steadily for 50 years or more'

George Gaynes in Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow in 1994 (Rex Features)

George Gaynes, the actor who played the eccentric and loveable Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy film series, has died at the age of 98.

The actor, who also starred as Henry Warnimont in Punky Brewster – a heart-warming sitcom in which he adopted an abandoned girl - died on Monday in North Bend, Washington. His death was confirmed by his daughter, Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown.

Mr Gaynes, who retired in 2003, starred in 35 films during his career, including The Way We Were. In 1982, he starred in Tootsie as a soap opera star with a crush on a woman who was actually played by Dustin Hoffman.

Mr Gaynes was born as George Jongejans in Helsinki in 1917 and was raised in France, England and Switzerland.

He began his career as a musical comedy performer in the 1940s and after World War Two, the baritone singer moved to the US to join the New York City Opera. He then decided to become an actor, changed his surname to Gaynes and went on to appear in Mission Impossible, The Six Million Dollar Man and Hawaii Five-0.

Mr Gaynes also appeared in the daytime soaps General Hospital and Search for Tomorrow.

Jonathan Howard, the former agent of Mr Gaynes, told The Hollywood Reporter: "He was really one of the true gentlemen in the business and was working steadily for 50 years or more. A sad, sad loss. But he had a really long, great life."

Tributes poured in for the actor on Twitter. Many fans thanked him for bringing so much humour to their lives.

Soleil Moon Frye, who played the daughter in Punky Brewster, said the universe had "gained a gigantic star".

Mr Gaynes is survived by his wife Allyn Ann McLerie, his daughter, one granddaughter and two great-granddaughters. His son died in a car crash in 1989.