'Facts of Life's' Nancy McKeon Remembers Late Brother in Tribute to Linda Lavin

"The Facts of Life" star Nancy McKeon remembered her beloved brother while paying tribute to her friend, his co-star Linda Lavin.

Lavin, 87, died unexpectedly Sunday shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer. McKeon responded by posting photos of her late sibling, actor Philip McKeon, with Lavin on Instagram. Both starred on the iconic sitcom "Alice" from 1976-1985, on which Linda played Alice and Philip her son Tommy.

Nancy wrote the heart-tugging caption, "💔Rest in peace Linda…look after each other 💙🕊️."

Philip died just over five years ago at 55 of an unspecified "long illness." His precise cause of death has never been disclosed.

Over the years, Nancy has been friendly with Lavin. On June 27, 2022, she and her mom attended Lavin's concert at Birdland in NYC, posting a happy photo and writing of the occasion, "…A wonderful moment in time💜my mom and I had the joyful pleasure of seeing @linda_lavin perform and debut her new album ‘Love Notes’ ♥️ at the always brilliant Birdland Jazz Club …An awesome evening of music and friends:)"

One of her post's hashtags, #missyoudude, is a phrase she has used multiple times online when remembering Philip, usually on his November 11 birthday each year.

With Lavin's passing, only 87-year-old Polly Holliday — wise-cracking Flo who made "kiss my grits!" a '70s catchphrase — is the last remaining original cast member of "Alice"; Vic Tayback died in 1990 and Beth Howland in 2015. Diane Ladd, 89, and Celia Weston, 73, who played waitresses on later seasons after Holliday's exit, are still with us.

Nancy played Jo Polniaczek on "The Facts of Life" from 1980-1988. In recent years, she starred in the TV movie "You Light Up My Christmas" (2019) and on several episodes of the TV series "Panic" (2021).

She just finished a short run in the off-Broadway play "Pen Pals," a piece about an American woman and an English woman who write to each other for decades from their teen years on. She is set to return to the play February 5-9.