Australian born actor Rod Taylor, best known for his starring roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds and the science fiction classic The Time Machine, died in Los Angeles this week at the age of 84. He was surrounded by family and at this time no cause of death has been given.

Born January 11, 1930 in Sydney, New South Wales Australia to a steel contractor father and a writer mother, he attended a fine arts college and a theater school in his hometown before heading to Hollywood in the 1950s.

He good looks and suave manner allowed him to land several roles such as George (Herbert George Wells), the inventor, in George Pal’s spectacular The Time Machine (1960), Mitch Brenner in Alfred Hitchcock’s creepy thriller The Birds (1963), the role of Jane Fonda’s love interest in Sunday in New York(1963), the title role in John Ford’s biopic of Irish playwright Sean O’Casey in Young Cassidy(1965), and a co-starring role in The Train Robbers(1973) with John Wayne. Taylor also appeared as Bettie Davis’ future son-in-law in the well-received film The Catered Affair (1956). 20th Century-Fox considered him for the astronaut role in 1968’s Planet of the Apes but, perhaps seeking a bigger box office name, gave the part to Charlton Heston.

He was fondly remembered by his Birds co-star Tippi Hedren, who noted his capacity for emotion on screen.

“There are so many incredible feelings I have for him… Rod was a great pal to me … we were very, very good friends,” she said. “He was one of the most fun people I have ever met, thoughtful and classy; there was everything good in that man.”

Taylor is survived by his daughter Felicia Taylor who said;” My dad loved his work. Being an actor was his passion — calling it an honorable art and something he couldn’t live without,”.