Everwood alum Treat Williams posted a photo and video to his Instagram page hours before he was killed in a motorcycle accident on Monday, Jun. 12. The posts showed off his quiet life on his Vermont farm. He shared the picture first, which showed the rolling green grass and fenced-in shed before him as he sat on his riding lawnmower. “There is no better smell than new mown hay,” he captioned the image.
The video he shared on Monday offered another view from his farm as he panned from left to right. The footage first showed several white farm buildings that gave way to tree-lined fences and then an open field. “Hay day,” Treat simply captioned the pic.
News of Treat’s death came to light Monday night. “He was killed this afternoon. He was making a left or a right [and] a car cut him off,” his agent, Barry McPherson, told PEOPLE. “I’m just devastated. He was the nicest guy. He was so talented.” Treat was 71 years old when he died.
The actor often posted about life on his farm. Just two days before his sudden death, he shared a picture of himself enjoying a cup of coffee on his porch in his pajamas. The picture showed his view: a gorgeous green field behind a classic wooden barn. Although Treat seemed perfectly happy staying at his sprawling farm, he seemed thrilled elsewhere sometimes. Within the past few weeks, for instance, he posted a shot of himself driving a motorboat and posing with a small plane he said he took to Virginia for the day.
During a 2016 interview, Treat spoke about the enjoyment he felt at his his residence and why he showed it off so much online. “If you go back through my photos, you’ll see that I love buildings that are beautifully beginning to crumble but they have beautiful vines growing over them. And a lot of old barns. I’ve always loved Vermont, and it’s kind of a way of sharing that with people,” he told My Devotional Thoughts in 2016.
“I really never [posted] to get followers; it’s just sort of a need you have,” he added. “Some people want to paint a picture, and this is sort of my way of expressing my love of the land and my environment up there.”
Treat left behind his wife of 35 years, Pam Van Sant, and their two children, Gill and Ellie, when he died. Aside from Everwood, Treat also appeared on shows such as Chesapeake Shores and Chicago Fire. He was also known for 1979’s Hair and 1998’s Deep Rising, which starred Michelle Pfeiffer and Whoopi Goldberg.