(Cover) - EN Showbiz - James Franco's father has passed away at the age of 63.

The 33-year-old Oscar nominated actor lost his father last week although the cause of death is not yet known.

Doug Franco was also father to James' two brothers Dave, who is an actor, and Tom, an artist, and the Harvard MBA was a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur for several years.

"It is true that my sweet, generous husband passed away," James's mother Betsy wrote on her Twitter page.

"He gave so much to his three sons and me, and to many other people too."

Betsy and Doug had met while they were studying at Stanford University together.

The couple watched proudly from the audience when James co-hosted this year's Academy Awards with Anne Hathaway back in February.

James had spoken about his father over the years in a fond manner and said that he got his offbeat sense of humour from him.

"I'm not serious all the time," James told The Guardian in 2006. "It's not like I grew up in a house full of jokes but my dad did turn me on to Monty Python." (C) Cover Media