Los Angeles, March 2 (IANS): Actor and athlete Lee Reherman, who played Hawk in the competition series "American Gladiators", is no more. He was 49.

He breathed his last late on Monday in Manhattan Beach, California.

His representative and longtime friend Anthony Turk confirmed the news of his death to variety.com, saying Reherman’s death was completely unexpected as he was the “epitome of health".

While the cause of death has not yet been revealed, Turk said Reherman underwent hip surgery about two months ago and had not been feeling well for the past few days.

Reherman had first planned to go into professional football, but subsequently moved to California to pursue a career in acting.

He landed a small role on the TV show “Columbo” and appeared in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Last Action Hero”, but broke out in 1993 when he joined competition reality show “American Gladiators” as Hawk. The show pitted normal citizens against athletes to see who would come out on top.

“American Gladiators” was in its fifth season when Reherman joined. He continued to appear on the show until its cancellation in 1996.

Reherman most recently appeared in an episode of the “Jane the Virgin”, as well as “Cooper Barret’s Guide to Life”. His other TV credits include small roles in “The X-Files”, “Gilmore Girls", “That’s So Raven” and “The Shield”.