R.I.P.: Former TV Personality, Author John Bradshaw

John Bradshaw

John Bradshaw, a best-selling self-help author, motivational speaker and Emmy-nominated television personality, died on Sunday from heart failure in Houston, his publicist said.

He was 82, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

After a personal struggle with drugs and alcohol, Bradshaw rose to prominence in the 1970s and '80s as the host of the nationally syndicated PBS series Bradshaw on the Family. In 1991, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for outstanding talk show host for his work on Bradshaw on Homecoming.

Bradshaw, widely credited with popularizing the term "inner child," went on to appear on more than 800 television and radio shows. Oprah Winfrey once introduced him to her viewers as "the Pied Piper leading people in their search for healthy relationships," and he served as an unofficial advisor to Steven Spielberg on the 1991 film Hook.