Jerry verDorn, the Emmy-winning actor best known for his longtime role as attorney Ross Marler on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light, died peacefully on May 1 after a months-long cancer illness, his family announced. He was 72.

In lieu of flowers, verDorn's family has asked for donations to be made to the American Cancer Society, Autism Speaks, the Actors Fund, or any other charity of choice in the late actor's obituary, which fondly remembers his wit and generosity.