Kirk Baily Dead At 59: What Happened to 'Salute Your Shorts' Actor?
Kirk Baily, the star of the Nickelodeon comedy series "Salute Your Shorts," has died. He was 59.
Baily famously appeared in the hit sitcom for 26 episodes from 2001 to 2002. He notably played the role of camp counselor Kevin "Ug" Lee.
Fans who saw his performance and watched the series over and over again were left devastated after his family confirmed his death to a news outlet. As quoted by PEOPLE, the actor's family released the statement about his death on Wednesday, with his friends re-sharing it online on the same day.
It has also been revealed that Kirk Baily's cause of death was lung cancer - the disease he was diagnosed with only six months ago.
It remains unknown whether he suffered further complications following his diagnosis.
Meanwhile, his grown-up fans who spent their childhood days watching the comedy series left heartfelt tributes online.
One said, "Camp Anawanna will never be the same without you, Kevin "Ug" Lee. R.I.P Kirk Baily."
"Ug from Salute Your Shorts (Kirk Baily) and Alex from Wings (Farrah Forke), the second of which I've been rewatching lately, both died of cancer and I'm not prepared to see all these people I watched on TV growing up leave us," another wrote, to which one user replied, "Yeah, I saw the news just a few minutes apart. First, I saw about Kirk Baily and then Farrah Forke. Sad news. Wings is one of my top 5 favorite sitcoms."
Kirk Baily's Contribution to Industry Remembered
Aside from appearing in "Salute Your Shorts," he continued joining more shows and series after the comedy flick did not renew for a third season.
Despite that, the cast members remained close that 20 years after "Salute Your Shorts" ended, they got together again during the 2019 Portland's Everything is Festival. They spent more time again when they reunited in 2019 to mark the opening of Nickelodeon's "Good Burger" pop-up in Los Angeles.
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Throughout his career, Baily made guest appearances on TV shows including "7th Heaven," "Melrose Place," "Star Trek: Voyager," "Judging Amy," and "NYPD Blue."
He famously voiced several animated movies and video games characters. Baily notably served as the voice actor for "Trigun," "Cowboy Bebop," "Frozen," "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run," "Hotel Translyvania," and "Despicable Me 2," among others.
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