James Franco's father Doug has died at the age of 63.

Doug Franco - a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur with a Harvard MBA - passed away last week and while the cause of his death has not been revealed, James' mother Betsy has paid tribute to Doug hailing him as a "sweet and generous husband".

Writing on her twitter page, Betsy said: "It is true that my sweet, generous husband passed away. He gave so much to his three sons and me, and to many other people, too."

In addition to the 'Planet of the Apes' star, Doug was also dad to James' two brothers Tom, 31, and Dave, 26.

James has previously credited his father for encouraging him to work hard at school and set him back on the right path in life after a spell of trouble with the police.

He said: "In my first two years of high school I got into a lot of trouble with the police for minor things: graffiti, stealing, crashing cars. It was teen angst, I was uncomfortable in my own skin. But my dad was very supportive."