Trailer Park Boys actor John Dunsworth has passed away aged 71.

Dunsworth, who played Jim Lahey on the show, died following a 'brief and unexpected illness', his daughter Sarah Dunsworth said.

"With heavy and broken hearts the family of John F. Dunsworth would like to let people know that our amazing husband, father and grandfather John Dunsworth has passed away," she wrote in a staement posted on Twitter.

"John left this world peacefully after a short and unexpected illness."

The actor was a Nova Scotia, Canada, native who was active in his local theatre and acting community for decades.

He first became part of what would become Trailer Park Boys when he played a version of the Jim Lahey character for the first time in the short film One Last Shot.

(Image: Getty)

He would go on to play the character-infamous for his drunken, bisexual escapades as a trailer park supervisor and police officer at different times in the series-throughout its initial seven season run in Canada and again when the show was revived by Netflix.

The series is set to debut its twelfth season on Netflix in the coming year. He would also play the character in all of the Trailer Park Boys films and one-off specials.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Beyond his role as Lahey, the actor was also known for playing Dave Teagues in the Syfy series Haven, which also filmed in Nova Scotia.

The series, based on the Stephen King novel The Colorado Kid, aired on the network for five seasons.

(Image: FilmMagic)

His most credited role was in the 1978 short So Long to Run. His next onscreen role was in the 1987 film Deep Sea Conspiracy.

He would go on to appear in Lexx: The Dark Zone Stories and the Canadian historical drama series Pit Pony among many other film and TV projects over his long career.