Michael Newman, who played lifeguard Mike “Newmie” Newman on “Baywatch,” has died. He was 68.

Newman died 18 years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The news was confirmed Tuesday by Newman’s close friend Matt Felker, who recently directed the Hulu docuseries about “Baywatch.”

The late actor died Sunday evening “of heart complications” “surrounded by his family and friends.”

“I saw Mike the last time he was conscious and he looked at me and said in typical Mike fashion, ‘You’re just in time,’” Felker told PEOPLE.

Newman was the only Baywatch cast member who was an actual lifeguard. He appeared in 150 episodes of the show, the most of anyone except David Hasselhoff.

The actor was also a full-time firefighter while starring in “Baywatch.” He returned to firefighting after the show ended in 2001 until he retired after 25 years.

Newman was 50 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2006.

His life with the disease was highlighted in ‘After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun’, which explored the cast’s lives after starring on the beloved show.

“This terminal illness has given me a lot of time to think, which I may not have wanted, but it has brought me wisdom,” Newman told PEOPLE in August.

“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,” he added.

“I cherish the days I get to be on this earth with family and friends,” he continued. “I take life seriously.”

He said the words he lives by are: “It’s not a walk-through.”

In the docuseries, Newman revealed that he was taking 10 medications a day while battling Parkinson’s disease.

Last year, Newman explained why he retired from Hollywood despite having “a lot of fun” acting.

“You don’t realize how hard it is to look natural in front of the lens and see yourself improve and sometimes not improve,” he told PEOPLE at the time.

“If you didn’t have to be there, why would you be there?” he added about the entertainment industry. “Let’s face it… there aren’t many actors who have survived the years of working in Hollywood.”

Newman spent the last years of his life raising money at the Michael J. Fox Foundation to help find a cure for Parkinson’s.

The late star is survived by his wife of 36 years, Sarah, their children Chris and Emily, and their 1-year-old granddaughter, Charlie.