‘Baywatch’ Star Michael Newman Remembered for Lifeguard Role and Heroic Legacy

Michael Newman, beloved Baywatch actor and real-life lifeguard, passed away on October 20, 2024, after a courageous 18-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 67 years old. 

Newman’s death was confirmed by his close friend, Matthew Felker, who told PEOPLE that the actor died “from heart complications” while “surrounded by his family and friends.”

Felker, director of documentary After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, formed a close friendship with Newman during production, staying by his side until the very end. 

“I got to see Mike before he passed away. He was unconscious mostly. When I showed up, he was awake almost like a miracle and looked at me and said, ‘You’re just in time,’ and laughed.  That was Mike. He found humor all the way until the end,” Felker revealed on Instagram. 

“Before I left him, we read him letters and played videos from friends from all walks of life. He knew he was loved. Before I left him, he grabbed my hand as tight as he could and looked me dead in the eyes, and just nodded. I nodded and said. ‘We will see each other again. I promise.’ A few days later. I lost my friend. A hero. My hero. Thanks for coming into my life, Newmie. Even if it was for a brief time.” 

Along with Felker, other stars took time to pay tribute to Newman, including Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, who wrote on Instagram, “Newman was a warrior. He literally saved my life at least four times. He did the transfer from the scarab to jet skis several times perfectly. What an amazing man. He was never afraid of the water. I remember directing him in a few episodes, and he was really good. He became a great actor. We will all miss him.” 

Michael Newman’s acting career 

Born on August 21, 1956, Newman didn’t begin acting until he landed a role on the hit lifeguard show Baywatch in 1989. In the show, Newman played himself and only got the role because he was a certified lifeguard in real life. 

“I was too useful for them to get rid of me,” the actor explained. “I basically started off as a stuntman, and after seven years of being out of the opening credits, I finally was anointed and allowed to be in the front of the show.”

The actor would remain in the Baywatch universe until 2000 before quitting acting altogether to return to his job as a fireman. 

Michael Newman’s battle with Parkinson’s 

In recent years, Newman began making headlines once again, as fans followed alongside his devastating 18-year battle with Parkinson’s—a disease that slowly causes one’s brain to deteriorate, causing them to have balance problems, slower movements and sometimes tremors. 

“This terminal disease has allowed me a lot of thinking time, which I maybe didn’t want, but it’s brought me wisdom,” the actor said in August 2024. “My body has changed so slowly that I hardly notice it, yet I am constantly reminded that Parkinson’s has now become the center of my life.”

Newman received his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2006, six years after Baywatch aired its final episode, marking the start of an 18-year fight against the disease. 

“Everything changes,” Newman said of his diagnosis. “All those things that you thought you were going to do with your children and grandchildren, pictures we were going to take, all the plans I had stopped.”

One thing that didn’t change was Newman’s love for the water, which makes sense given that he was both a firefighter and a lifeguard on and off screen. 

“In the water, he’s like Superman, and on land, he’s Clark Kent,” Falker said of his late friend earlier this year. “You see him on land, and he’s stumbling, he’s tripping, but you put him in the water, and the dude’s like Superman.”

Before his death, Newman reportedly did 45 minutes of cardio a day and was still fighting fires in Hawaii and Los Angeles. 

The personal life of Michael Newman 

When he wasn’t busy protecting the beach or fighting fires, Newman could be found spending time with his wife Sarah, his children Chris and Emily and his granddaughter Charlie. 

“I am cherishing the days that I get to be on this earth with family and friends. I’m taking life seriously,” the actor said of them. 

He also volunteered a lot for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, saying, “This may not help me. But it’s going to help someone down the road.”

May Michael Newman rest in peace.