Robert Swan, ‘Hoosiers,’ ‘Rudy’ actor, dead at 78

Robert Swan, a veteran character actor known for his roles in “Hoosier,” “Rudy” and “The Babe,” died Wednesday. He was 78.

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Swan died at his home in Rolling Prairie, Indiana, after a long battle with cancer, his longtime friend, Betty Hoeffner, wrote in a Facebook post.

Swan played Gene Hackman’s assistant in the 1986 film “Hoosiers” and was featured as a priest in the 1993 film “Rudy,” according to Deadline. In “Hoosiers,” Swan played Indiana farmer Rollin Butcher, who had two sons on the Hickory High School basketball team. He is one of the few residents in the town to welcome Norman Dale (Hackman) and later joins the team as a basketball assistant, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In “Rudy,” Swan played the role of a priest, according to Deadline.

Swan also portrayed a Canadian Mountie in “The Untouchables” (1987), a deputy in “Natural Born Killers” (1994) and a law enforcement official in “Who’s That Girl” (1987) and “Mo’ Money”(1992), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In 1992, he played the father of Babe Ruth in “The Babe,” Deadline reported.

Hoeffner wrote in her Facebook post that Swan was shopping a new screenplay, “The Saint and the Scoundrel,” which followed the life of English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Swan was born in Chicago on Oct. 20, 1944, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He acted in theaters in teh city and appeared on Broadway in 1974 in “The Freedom of the City,” according to the entertainment news website.

He made his film debut in 1980, playing a stagehand in “Somewhere in Time.”

Swan appeared on “The Dollmaker,” a made-for-television movie, in 1984, Variety reported. He also had roles on “All My Children,” “The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo,” “Walking Tall,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Spencer For Hire,” according to Deadline.

He also founded the Harbor Country Opera, a Michigan-based opera house, Entertainment Weekly reported.

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