AceShowbiz - "The Untouchables" actor Robert Swan has passed away aged 78. A friend of the Hollywood star - who played a Mountie captain alongside Kevin Costner and Sean Connery in Brian De Palma's 1987 prohibition-era gangster classic - died after battling cancer, one of his friends confirmed to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, August 9.

His friend Betty Hoeffner also announced his death on social media. The actor "died peacefully in his sleep at 5.47am, August 9th, in his Rolling Prairie, Indiana home after a long battle with cancer," Betty said on Facebook.

Although best-known for his "The Untouchables" character who becomes outraged by Sean Connery's rough-and-tumble Chicago cop's tactics as they battled Al Capone, he was also renowned for starring in the basketball film "Hoosiers".

Born in Chicago on October 20, 1944, Robert made his film debut in 1980 when he starred in "Somewhere in Time", which saw him play the role of a stagehand who fights with Christopher Reeves' character in the year 1912.

His other roles included turns in Oliver Stone's movie "Natural Born Killers" as well as "The Owner". He also worked on "The Twilight Zone". In 1984, he starred alongside Jane Fonda in the 1984 ABC TV film "The Dollmaker".

In 1986's "Hoosiers", his character - the Indiana farmer Rollin Butcher - has two sons on the Hickory High School basketball team, and he's one of the few people in town to welcome new coach Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman).

Robert was also was a voice actor in commercials for United Airlines, Busch and Schlitz beer, Nine Lives cat food, and the Beef Industry Council, and founded and performed at the Harbor County Opera in Three Oaks, Michigan.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara, as well as brothers David and Charles; sister-in-law Elizabeth; nephews Christopher, Bryan, and Daniel; and dogs Baci and Chico.