American film and TV actor, Paul D’Amato has died at the age of 75 after a four-year health battle.

The actor, who played Tim “Dr Hook” McCracken in the movie Slap Shot and had a role in The Deer Hunter alongside Robert De Niro, suffered from a rare brain disease.

D’Amato also played different characters in several popular Law & Order franchise episodes.

“He was the most wonderful, sweetest guy, he fought so hard against this horrendous disease,” his fiancée Marina Re told The Hollywood Reporter.

Before taking on acting, D’Amato served in the US Army before playing in the hockey team while attending Emerson College in Boston.

Born in Worcester and later raised in Spencer, Massachusetts, D’Amato started working as a stagehand when he was about 14, which inspired him to become an actor.

D’Amato was both an athlete and actor and appeared in theatre productions and on the ice hockey team while attending Emerson College in Boston

D’Amato continued his career with roles on both Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. 

He most recently appeared on an upside of the ABC dramatic comedy The Unusuals in 2009. 

D’Amato also appeared in a string of benefit golf tournaments and sports gatherings, including the Enfield tournament, which he played in for about 10 years and raised funds for scholarship