Blake Lively breaks silence on death of father Ernie Lively

Blake Lively has broken her silence on the death of her father, Ernie Lively.

The Turner & Hooch star died of cardiac complications in Los Angeles, aged 74, the late star's family confirmed.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ernie was with his wife Elaine and his children - also including Jason, 53, Eric, 39, Robyn, 49, and 54-year-old Lori Lively - who are all also actors in their own right.

And hours after the sad news was reported, the A Simple Favor actress took to her Instagram Story to share a sweet picture of her hugging her dad and captioned it with a brown love heart.

In 2003, Ernie suffered a heart attack, and he was treated with stem-cell therapy as part of an experimental retrograde gene procedure in 2014.

The movie star was also known for his roles in Passenger 57 and The Dukes of Hazzard, while he played Blake's on-screen father in the 2005 comedy-drama The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the 2008 sequel.

His other credits include The Man in the Moon, The Beverly Hillbillies and Mulholland Falls.

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On the small screen, he made appearances in the likes of Seinfeld, Murder She Wrote and The West Wing.

Blake - who shot to fame as Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl - previously credited her mother and father with mentoring her into the actress she is today.

She said: “My mom and dad always taught acting, so instead of getting me babysitters, they would just bring me to class. And I’m a naturally shy person, so it really helped. I would’ve just been hiding under the table, pulling on my mother’s dress if I hadn’t been in their classes.”