‘Duck Dynasty’ Patriarch Phil Robertson Dies at 79

Arts|Phil Robertson, ‘Duck Dynasty’ Patriarch, Dies at 79

Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the hit show “Duck Dynasty” and the founder of a duck hunting gear business that became the foundation of his family’s reality television empire, has died. He was 79.

His death was confirmed by his son Jase Robertson in a social media post late Sunday that did not specify a cause.

Jase said on the family’s podcast last year that his father had early-stage Alzheimer’s and other health problems.

Mr. Robertson was one of the stars of “Duck Dynasty,” an A&E series that stars his family — Mr. Robertson and his wife, Kay; their sons; the sons’ wives; an uncle and some grandchildren — and revolves loosely around their duck hunting gear business.

Mr. Robertson was born on April 24, 1946, in Vivian, La.

He founded Duck Commander, a company that makes duck-call instruments used in hunting, in 1973 in Louisiana.

“Duck Dynasty,” which ran over 11 seasons from 2012 to 2017, once ranked among the most popular shows on cable and had as many as 12 million viewers. But it occasionally courted controversy.

In 2013, Mr. Robertson was briefly suspended from the show after an interview surfaced in which he had made statements that were widely seen as offensive to gay people. But the network quickly reinstated him under pressure from fans and after the family issued a statement saying in effect that there would be no show without their patriarch.

Last year, Jase Robertson said on the family’s podcast, “Unashamed with the Robertson Family,” that his father had early-stage Alzheimer's. “Phil’s not doing well,” Jase said, adding that Mr. Robertson also had a “blood disease causing all kinds of problems.”