Actor Geoffrey Lewis, who appeared in several Clint Eastwood movies and made guest appearances on dozens of TV shows in the ’60s through ’80s, died Tuesday in Woodland Hills, Calif. of natural causes, according to a family friend. He was 79. The character actor, who often appeared in Westerns, was the father of actress Juliette Lewis.

He had roles in Eastwood’s “High Plains Drifter,” “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,” as Orville Boggs in “Every Which Way But Loose” and “Any Which Way You Can” as well as in “Bronco Billy,” “Pink Cadillac” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

Among his other film credits were “The Devil’s Rejects,” Michael Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate,” John Milius’ “Dillinger,” TV movie “Salem’s Lot” and Michael Ritchie’s “Smile.”

Lewis received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance on the 1980 series “Flo,” and appeared in numerous other shows including “Barnaby Jones,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Lou Grant,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “Falcon Crest” and “Murder, She Wrote.”

Born in San Diego, he grew up in Rhode Island and moved to California at age 10. He is survived by his wife Paula Hochhalter, Juliette Lewis and nine other children including Lightfield and Matthew, both actors, and Dierdre, an actress.

Juliette Lewis legally emancipated from her parents at age 14. But contrary to popular belief, she did so with the consent of her parents, who helped her through the process.

"I know that sounds all radical, but when you start acting when you're younger, you talk to other actor kids and their moms, and they're like, 'Yeah, if you want to get a job, they like on your resume to say emancipated minor versus minor, because you then can work over eight hours.' Uma Thurman was emancipated, Giovanni Ribisi -- so many people got emancipated who were working as teenagers."

Lewis added that rumors online indicating she split from her parents because of discord are simply not true.

"So I just have to clear that up," she said. "Do you know, I can't even change the false facts that are on the Interweb about me? You're like, 'No, it's me, and you're wrong about my history!'"

Lewis described her parents as "radical, hilarious, artistic" and always very supportive of her aspirations to be an actress.

"They're lovely, and my dad would take us out of school every now and then, like lie to the teachers, 'We're going to the dentist,' and take us to 'Star Wars.' You know, I didn't graduate high school, but I got to see 'Star Wars' and skip those lines," she said.