TV

Ralph Ahn, actor behind New Girl fan favorite Tran, dies at 95

Jake Johnson and Zooey Deschanel mourned their late costar on social media.

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Published on February 28, 2022 08:52PM EST

Ralph Ahn, a character actor best known for portraying the largely silent but ever-insightful Tran on New Girl, has died at 95. The Korean American Federation of Los Angeles announced Ahn's death in a Facebook post Sunday.

A fan-favorite supporting character, Tran served as a father figure and sage advisor to Jake Johnson's man-child Nick Miller, despite rarely speaking. Audiences first met Tran in season 2 of the Fox sitcom, in the episode "Menzies." When Nick befriends Tran at a local park, he confesses all his emotional problem to to the elderly man, which leads Tran to take Nick to a spa, where the two get in a hot tub and Tran cradles Nick as if he were a baby.

Ahn appeared on six episodes of New Girl in all, including the 2018 season finale. His only two lines of dialogue on the show were "Huge baby" and "Drive." Tran also played a role in a season 4 story line when Nick briefly dated his granddaughter, Kai (Greta Lee).

Johnson shared a heartfelt tribute to Ahn on Instagram, posting two photos of his late costar and writing, "RIP. So much fun to work with. He gave so much with literally no lines. I loved when he was on set. I was always expecting to somehow work with him again. Condolences to his family/friends."

New Girl star Zooey Deschanel also commented on Johnson's post, writing, "Noooooo," and adding a crying emoji.

According to New Girl creator Liz Meriwether, it was Johnson's idea to make Ahn a recurring figure on the show. "He's really easy to write for," she joked in a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "It was Jake Johnson's idea, originally. He texted me about it. We all thought it was so funny."

Ralph Ahn was born Sept. 28, 1926, in Los Angeles. He was the son of Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, a Korean independence activist and early leader in the Korean American community. Ahn was inspired to become an actor by his brother, Philip, who was widely regarded as the first Korean American actor in Hollywood, portraying Master Kan on Kung Fu.

Ahn's other screen credits included The Golden Girls, ER, Fallen Angels, The King of Queens, The Shield, and Gilmore Girls.

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