James Lipton passed away at his home on March 2, TMZ reports. He was 93.

The legendary Inside the Actors Studio host’s cause of death was bladder cancer, according to The New York Times.

Lipton was a writer, lyricist, actor, and the Dean Emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City before serving as host of the iconic Bravo TV show, Inside the Actors Studio, starting in 1994.

Lipton hosted the show for more than 20 years before retiring from the interview program in 2018. During his long run on the Q&A show, Lipton picked the brains of an impressive range of celebrities, including Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Sydney Pollack, Carol Burnett, Julia Roberts, Spike Lee, Barbra Streisand, George Clooney, and Ted Danson.

Lipton Ended His Interviews With 10 Signature Questions

Lipton once revealed that among his favorite guests were Dave Chappelle and the late Superman star Christopher Reeve, who talked with him after the tragic 1995 horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed. He also listed Bradley Cooper as one of his most memorable interviews.

The Inside the Actors Studio host famously ended his interviews with a list of 10 questions, including, “What is your favorite word? What is your least favorite word? What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? What turns you off? What is your favorite curse word? What noise do you love?”

He always ended by asking his subjects, “If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?”

Lipton credited his show-ending list of questions to French talk show host Bernard Pivot.

In an interview with Deadline, Lipton once admitted he was concerned that Inside the Actors Studio‘s non-gossip format would “limit” the talk show. He said he feared “we would be on the air for a few months and then vanish because people didn’t want to hear people talk about craft.”

Instead, Lipton helmed the legendary show for 22 seasons (274 episodes).

In the two years since Lipton’s retirement, the iconic series has continued as a craft seminar for the students of The Actors Studio MFA program at Pace University, navigated by a rotating lineup of hosts.

Lipton Began His Own Acting Career With A Surprising Role

Featured image credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive Getty Images

As for his own interest in acting, Lipton’s first professional job was on the live radio program “The Lone Ranger” in the 1940s for which he was cast as the voice of the title character’s nephew, Dan Reid. He later enrolled at Wayne State University in Detroit with plans to become a lawyer prior to attending Columbia University as his interest in the craft of acting grew.

In the 1950s, Lipton landed a lengthy stint on the soap opera Guiding Light, playing Dr. Dick Grant. He became a TV writer on a series of soaps before penning the story and lyrics for the Broadway musical Sherry! Lipton also published both fiction and nonfiction books, and in the 1970s he worked as a television producer for several high-profile TV events, including President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala and multiple birthday specials for Bob Hope.

During a career that spanned seven decades, Lipton was honored with the French Republic’s Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also received a Daytime Emmy Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award and won a Critics’ Choice Award for best reality show host.

Lipton is survived by his wife, Kedakai Turner.