A decade-long stomach cancer fight has claimed the life of ALTON "BEN" POWERS – the star known for his role in the iconic 1970s television series “Good Times." The actor had lost a staggering 100 pounds in the final months of his life.
“He was in so much agony at the end that he couldn’t walk and had difficulty breathing and talking,” close friend Lisa Crump told The National ENQUIRER. “He lost his teeth and had to be fed through a tube.”
While the announcement of Ben’s death on April 6 in New Bedford, Mass., did not state the cause, the 64-year-old actor was diagnosed 10 years ago with stomach cancer.
“He did not want to undergo radiation and chemotherapy,” Lisa told The ENQUIRER. “That was his decision and we respected it.”
Though Ben is survived by his mother and two sisters, he’d moved in with Lisa and her family because the “pain was too intense” – until he was forced into a specialized care home in his sad last days.
On the hit show Ben played Keith Anderson – the football player hubby of Thelma Evans, played by Bern Nadette Stanis. The TV duo married during the sixth and final season.
After “Good Times,” Ben landed the role of Moochie on the Stacy Keach show, “The New Mike Hammer.”
After that, he dropped out of Hollywood believing “Hollywood turned its back on him.”
A strapping 260-pound hunk at the height of his stardom, he’d withered away to a mere 135 pounds at the time of his death.
Lisa told The ENQUIRER: “Ben had one regret and that was that he never got married and had a family of his own. He regretted that he couldn’t take his one-time relationship further with beautiful actress Pam Grier. She was his one true love.”
Still, at the end, the Brooklyn, New York, native was able to muster enough energy to tell friends his parting thought – “Stay true to yourself!”
Said Lisa: “We’ll miss him terribly.”
