Al Ruddy, the Oscar-winning producer known for his work on such films as The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby , died on Saturday. He was 94. The news of his death was confirmed via a statement to ET from his family.
"Albert Stotland Ruddy, the legendary film and television producer who earned two Academy Awards for Best Picture ( The Godfather, Million Dollar Baby ), died peacefully following a brief illness on May 25, 2024 surrounded by his family at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. He was 94 years old," the statement said in part. No further details were shared.
Ruddy's wife, Wanda McDaniel, shared the news on Instagram with her followers. "Among the last words of Albert S. Ruddy: 'The game is over, but we won the game!' You slayed the game of life, my darling," she wrote next to a photo of her late husband.
"The void you leave behind is as immense as our love. You were human effervescence, the bubbles in the tonic. As Emily Dickenson said: 'Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.
' You were adored by so many, a Hollywood legend and sweetheart. Rest in peace my unique, urbane, brilliant husband. You are now my heart — always my forever love and my man in the arena.
25 / May / 2024 💔." Ruddy's daughter, Alexandra, also took to Instagram to pay an emotional tribute to her father. "As soon as I realized I had an 'old dad' I was scared for the day I would lose him.
But then he lived so long and so bright that I learned to replace the fear of his passing wit.
