Edward Matthew "Ed" Lauter II (October 30, 1938 – October 16, 2013)

(The Hollywood Reporter) – Ed Lauter, the always working character actor
who played the butler/chauffeur of Berenice Bejo’s character Peppy in the
best-picture Oscar winner The Artist, died Wednesday.

According to his publicist, Edward Lozzi, Lauter discovered in May that he
had contracted mesothelioma, a terminal form of cancer most commonly
caused by exposure to asbestos.

Lauter recently played a baseball scout opposite Clint Eastwood in Trouble
With the Curve (2012).