Good friends can be hard to find, and once Robert Wagner and Lionel Stander found each other, they knew they had a pal for life. The two men acted alongside each other on the popular mystery television series, Hart to Hart. Wagner played the wealthy sleuth, Jonathan Hart, while Stander played majordomo, Max.

The series only lasted five seasons before it was suddenly cancelled. Despite the unexpected ending, the two actors didn’t let anything deter their friendship.

Wagner and Stander kept in touch after the series was cancelled, and the relationship lasted for years. After Stander’s death in 1994, Wagner was quick to publicly remember his friend. The actor said that he didn’t just see Stander as a friend, he was him as a member of his own family.

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“I consider myself blessed to have shared three decades of his life and the gift of his constant support and friendship,” Wagner said during an interview with the Associated Press. “He was a true original, but, above all, he was a father figure to me and a dear friend.”

The sentiment was certainly returned by Stander, who was very complimentary of his former co-star and constant companion. “He is a balanced star,” Stander said of Wagner during an interview with The Buffalo News, “organized and considerate, one of the few people who has power and is not corrupt. Everyone respects him.”