Hilary Duff says Lizzie McGuire producer Stan Rogow was the ‘very special person’ who fought for her to land the lead role in the show… as she pays tribute after his death at 75

Stan Rogow, the Emmy-nominated producer who worked on the comedy series Lizzie McGuire (2001-2004), The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003) and the original NBC series Fame (1982), died Thursday.

The Brooklyn, New York native died at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 75 The Hollywood Reporterbut ultimately, audit officials had not released the official cause of death.

Rogow served as executive producer for the Hilary Duff-led Lizzie McGuire Show from 2001 to 2004, where he was nominated twice for Emmys for his work on the show.

When Duff learned the tragic news of his passing, he took to her Instagram page to share her condolences to his family and thank him for helping her carve out her career in Hollywood.

“Writing this now brings back so many distant memories of what feels like a completely different life,” she began in her lengthy post. “One where I had absolutely no idea where I was going or how I was going to get there, but where I had that eagerness and blind optimism that comes with youth and your first opportunities to move up.”

Duff, now a 36-year-old mother of three, went on to call Rogow the “special” first person who believed in her as an artist, despite her being just a teenager at the time.

“You deeply cherish the people who are the first to believe in you and see something in you, and for me there was a very special person who fought for me to get a role that would change the entire course of my life,” said she about Rogow, before adding “And I’m so sad to hear today that he passed away.”

The actress and singer ended her tribute with an abundance of thanks and gratitude to the man who served as a mentor to the then young star.

“Stan, thanks for thinking I had ‘that special thing.’ Thanks for all the Lizzie adventures. Thank you for helping create a reality I could never have dreamed of,” she wrote before sharing, “Thinking of your family and your son Jackson at this time, rest in peace Stan x HD.”

During her early years of acting, Duff mainly played small roles and did extra work until she landed her first major role in Casper Meets Wendy (1998).

From there, she was touted to star in the NBC comedy series Daddio with Michael Chiklis, but was dropped from the cast before the show aired.

But just a week later, Duff landed the title role of a newly developed Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire.

In addition to serving as executive producer, Rogow is also credited with coming up with the high-concept version of the Lizzie McGuire script, which would feature an animated version of the character to convey these thoughts, according to Wikipedia. This concept became known as the ‘animated Lizzie’ persona and was also voiced by Duff.

In an Instagram post, Duff called Rogow the first “special person” who believed in her talents, who fought for her to land the role of Lizzie McGuire.

The actress and singer also thank Rogow for ‘thinking I had that special thing’

In addition to the series, Rogow also worked with Duff on The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003); the writer, producer and music manager is seen in 2007

Duff is now a 36-year-old mother of three, who is married to Matthew Koma, 36; the couple are pictured with son Luca, 11, who she shares with ex-husband Mike Comrie, and their daughters Banks, five, and Mae, two, over the Christmas holidays

The writer, producer and music manager’s Hollywood credits also include TV shows such as Shannon’s Deal (1990-1991), Nowhere Man (1995-1996), State of Grace (2001-2002), Darcy’s Wild Life (2004-2006) , Flight 29 Down (2005-2007) and Valemont (2009).

He also produced a number of films in which Duff reprises her role as Lizzie in The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003).

As a producer, Rogow earned three Emmy nominations: one for his work on Fame and two more for his collaboration with Duff on Lizzie McGuire.

The father of one is survived by family members including his son Jackson Rogow, who starred in the live-action Cartoon Network series Dude, What Would Happen (2009-2011), his grandson Vega and his sister Marian.

Variety reports that a memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Mount Sinai Memorial Park And Mortuaries in Los Angeles.