Alan Dale heart-attacked from The O.C.

Dunedin-born actor Alan Dale’s role as wealthy Orange County real estate mogul, Caleb Nichol (“deep down, he is a conniving man that won’t stop until he gets what he wants”) in the hit show The O.C. has ended after his character was struck by a fatal heart attack and buried in the season finale (Caleb Nichol had started the year facing corruption charges, was forced to acknowledge his illegitimate daughter, suffered a heart attack, dealt with a blackmailer and initiated a divorce action against his trophy wife). Alan Dale started acting at the age of 12 in his parents theater group. After school he moved to Auckland, married and began a job as a milk man. While making his deliveries one day, he heard that the breakfast radio announcer was quitting, he finished his deliveries and went to apply. He landed the job. In 1979, 10 days after arriving in Sydney, he landed his first television role in The Young Doctors. After three years as Dr. John Forest, he went on to star in Neighbours as Jim Robinson, his defining role, for eight years. After re-marriage to former Miss Australia, Tracey Pearson he moved to Los Angeles where he has been in many programs such as E.R, The X-Files, Navy NCIS, The Practice and The O.C. He also had a role in movie Star Trek: Nemesis and was one of the voices in the X-Men video game.