It’s only beginning to sink in that the man we knew as Uncle Phil has officially passed away, and that a memory of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is gone forever. Nobody will forget his bellowing matches with his nephew Will, or his stringent parenting when Ashley (Tatyana Ali) wore something a little too skimpy. His role in the show (And other shows) will remain in fans’ hearts forever.
His Hollywood peers have taken the time to pay tribute to Avery, including none other than co-star and his son on the show, Alfonso Ribiero, who played the famous Carlton Banks. Ribiero was one of the first to confirm the unfortunate news on his Twitter profile. Ribiero said:
I’m deeply saddened to say that James Avery has passed away. He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly. pic.twitter.com/UrW0EeBFbO
— Alfonso Ribeiro (@alfonso_ribeiro) January 1, 2014
While Jada Pinkett Smith posted on her facebook profile:
It’s been a sad couple of days for Fresh Prince and James Avery fans, however what’s even sadder is those who choose to take advantage of the situation for their own personal gain- whatever that gain may be. A fake Will Smith account appeared on Twitter and it went on to have a fake conversation with a Fake NBC. You can see the conversation below:
R.I.P. Uncle Phil. All you real Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fans out there… DON’T STOP #RETWEETING THIS. pic.twitter.com/xeyS1KPzqW
— Will Smith (@FreshPrinceWiII) January 1, 2014
Quite what Fake WIll Smith was trying to achieve, nobody is sure as he was always going to be found out eventually. However, that 15 minutes of Twitter-Fame is enough incentive for some people.
