‘Baywatch’ actor Michael Newman dead at 68 after 18-year battle with Parkinson’s disease

Michael Newman, who played lifeguard Mike “Newmie” Newman on “Baywatch,” has died. He was 68.

Newman passed away 18 years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The news was confirmed Tuesday by Newman’s close friend, Matt Felker, who recently directed the Hulu docuseries about “Baywatch.”

The late actor died “from heart complications” on Sunday evening “surrounded by his family and friends.”

“I got to see Mike the last time he was conscious and he looked [at] me and in typical Mike fashion said, ‘You’re just in time,'” Felker told PEOPLE.

Newman was the only “Baywatch” castmember who was a real-life lifeguard. He appeared on 150 episodes of the show, the most of anyone except David Hasselhoff.