Robert Carradine Will Always Be Remembered As An Iconic TV Dad For One Generation – SlashFilm

On February 24, 2026, news broke that actor Robert Carradine passed away at the age of 71. In a statement, the Carradine family — including the actor’s daughter Ever Carradine, an actress known for projects like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Runaways” — acknowledged that Carradine died by suicide, hoping to bring attention to mental illness due to the fact that he suffered from bipolar disorder. For an entire generation, Carradine wasn’t the guy from “Revenge of the Nerds” or a member of a famous Hollywood family, though — he was one of the Disney Channel’s very best dads.

From 2001 to 2004, Carradine lent his considerable starpower to “Lizzie McGuire” as Sam McGuire, the hapless but unfailingly kind dad of the show’s titular Lizzie (played, of course, by Hilary Duff). Alongside Hallie Todd as Jo McGuire — Sam’s wife and Lizzie’s mom — and Jake Thomas as Lizzie’s troublemaking younger brother Matt, Carradine helped make “Lizzie McGuire” into one of the most beloved half-hour comedies on The Disney Channel, because he radiated warmth, love, and genuine affection in any scene opposite his fictional kids. (Unfortunately, Carradine never got the chance to appear in the planned “Lizzie McGuire” reboot, which was canceled before it truly got off the ground.) 

Here’s why Carradine was such an excellent fake dad to future superstar Duff on “Lizzie McGuire,” and how he made this role so special that fans like me remember it decades later.

As a pre-teen, “Lizzie McGuire” was required viewing for me. The show became a massive sensation thanks to Hilary Duff’s winning (yet inexperienced) lead performance as Lizzie, a girl trying to get through middle school with the help of her best friends Miranda Sanchez (Lalaine) and David “Gordo” Gordon (Adam Lamberg). All the while, she has to survive basically constant harassment from Matt — a chaos machine who fits the “younger brother” stereotype pretty perfectly — and even though Lizzie thinks her parents are unbearably lame and even annoying, she always has their full support.

That’s where Robert Carradine’s clueless, dorky dad Sam McGuire comes into play. A constant on “Lizzie McGuire” is that Sam literally never knows what hijinks his kids are up to, also fulfilling a stereotype as the forgetful, aloof dad who leaves all the discipline and unpleasantness to his long-suffering wife (Jo, in this case). 

Still, “Lizzie McGuire” manages to make Sam a more well-rounded character in a few ways. First, his marriage to Jo is solid even if Sam is sort of a doofus. Second, the show threw in a super-dorky backstory — including a school stint as a hall monitor — for Sam, which I can only assume an ode to “Revenge of the Nerds.” Finally, the show goes to great lengths to chart the long relationship between Lizzie and Sam, letting her dad fondly reflect on her younger years in the show’s second and final season as she prepares to graduate from middle school. The guy sold every scene with Lizzie beautifully, making them all memorable.

Carradine was absolutely perfect as Lizzie’s nerdy, lovable dad, but where else did you see the actor during his long and illustrious career?

Other than “Lizzie McGuire” and its 2003 feature film “The Lizzie McGuire Movie,” Robert Carradine — son of Hollywood legend John Carradine, brother of David and Keith Carradine, and uncle to Martha Plimpton — is probably best known for “Revenge of the Nerds.” In 1984, Carradine originated the role of one of the movie’s titular nerds, Lewis Skolnick — who, alongside his best friend Gilbert Lowe (Anthony Edwards), starts an impromptu frat just for nerdier sorts at the fictional Adams College. Carradine also reprised his role in 1987’s “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise,” 1992’s “Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation,” and 1994’s “Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love” — and on a 2008 episode of “Robot Chicken.”

On the small screen, you may have seen Carradine host the short-lived game show “King of the Nerds,” which ran from 2013 to 2015, as well as stints on shows like “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Celebrity Wife Swap,” and “NYPD Blue. Aside from that, the Carradine brothers worked together when they were younger — Robert appeared on “Kung-Fu” with his brother David, who played the titular Bill in the “Kill Bill” films and passed away in 2009 — and were a major part of a Hollywood legacy; Keith Carradine, Robert and David’s brother, is still an actor who recently appeared in “Law & Order: Organized Crime” and “High Potential.” 

If you want to revisit Carradine’s time on “Lizzie McGuire,” the series is streaming on Disney+ now.