‘NCIS’ season 11 cast and crew, ‘Bones’ co-creators issue statements on Ralph Waite

The tributes continue to pour in about actor Ralph Waite, a matter of just a few days after he sadly passed away at the age of 85.

Yesterday, we brought you some of the individual tributes from the cast of “NCIS,” who say him just earlier this season for an episode that featured his character Jackson Gibbs taking a look back at his past with his son (Mark Harmon). Now, we also have an official statement from the entire cast and crew expressing their sadness over the news:

“Everyone at NCIS is deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Ralph Waite. Ralph was family to us, a tremendous talent and a very special man. We truly cherish the time we had with him. Our hearts and prayers go out to his loved ones.”

As we said in our article yesterday, at some point the show will probably decide how they want to address Waite’s passing onscreen; however, there are more appropriate times to discuss that.

Meanwhile, the executive producers of another show to recently feature Waite in “Bones” (where he played Booth’s grandfather) in Hart Hanson and Steven Nathan issued a statement of their own (per Entertainment Weekly):

“All of us at Bones mourn the loss of Ralph Waite. We loved having him on set and in many ways his character was the moral center of our show as Booth’s plainspoken, loving, war hero grandfather. The entire Bones family sends condolences to his family and loved ones.”

In addition to these two shows, Waite was best known for his work in over a hundred episodes of “The Waltons,” and he also had a regular presence over the past few years on “Days of Our Lives.” For being 85 years old, there is no question that he was one of the most active working actors in the business. He will be missed.

Photo: CBS