An actor who appeared in animated series King Of The Hill and hit show Parks And Recreation has been shot dead near his home.

Jonathan Joss, 59, was found injured by police in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday evening.

Officers tried to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The actor’s husband claimed the gunman shouted “violent homophobic slurs” before opening fire, and that Joss had pushed him out the way to save his life.

“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” alleged Tristan Kern de Gonzales on Facebook.

He said the couple had previously faced harassment from neighbours, much of it “openly homophobic”.

Joss’s husband said they had been checking for mail at his old home – which earlier this year burned down in a fire that killed their three dogs – when they noticed the skull of one of the animals in front of the property.

He said they began “yelling and crying” and claimed they were approached by a man who threatened them with a gun.

“We were standing side by side,” said Mr Kern de Gonzales. “When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”

However, San Antonio police said it had found no evidence that the shooting was a hate crime.

“Should any new evidence come to light, we will charge the suspect accordingly,” said a statement.

A 56-year-old man, Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, has already been charged with murder.

Joss is best known for voicing Native American character John Redcorn in cult show King Of The Hill, which ran for 13 series and more than 250 episodes from 1997 to 2009.

He also had a recurring role in NBC’s Parks And Recreation as tribal elder and casino owner Chief Ken Hotate.

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A King Of The Hill reboot is due to start in August and Joss had been in Austin, Texas, for events promoting the comeback the day before he was killed.

He posted a video on Instagram saying he was signing autographs at a comic book store, adding that he had already worked on four episodes of the revival.

“The fans get to revisit King Of the Hill again, which I think is an amazing thing because it’s a great show,” he said in the video.

The suspect is being held in a detention centre in San Antonio, but the lawyer representing him could not be traced as they were not listed in court records.

Sarah Jessica Parker was the subject of some unwanted headlines over the past few weeks after saying she reads two books a day.

While speculation of her reading capabilities circulates, the actress continues the challenging mountain of novels she has to get through in order to be a judge for the Booker Prize.

The actress is part of a panel of judges for the literary award which announces the “Booker Dozen” of 12 or 13 books on 29 July, its shortlist on 23 September and the overall winner on 10 November. The winner receives £50,000.

“I have one by my side now,” Sarah Jessica tells Sky News during an interview for her show And Just Like That.

“It’s been hard these last two weeks because we’ve been promoting the show and I thought I would be able to read between interviews, but you can read two words. You can read these three sentences, so I’m feeling very anxious about how many books I have yet to read for our next deliberation,” she says.

The Sex And The City actress compares the workload to preparing to take an exam.

“I’ve not ever felt this behind, including in high school. Like, I really am not entirely sure how I’m going to read the required amount of books by our next deliberation,” she says.

“I thought about this last night in bed, that even if I stay up every day and don’t sleep, I might not make it. So I’m not sure how. I have to not make dinner for anybody, not do anybody’s laundry. I have cut out all tasks. So we’ll see. It’s pretty fantastic, this burden is pretty wonderful.”

Turning to her spin-off series, she says she never paid much attention to the cultural impact Sex And The City had on portraying women in their 30s on screen without a rose-tinted lens.

“I think we’re just always wanting to tell interesting stories,” she says.

“And the rule in the writing room has been, for as long as I’ve known, the story can only be as far removed as one person from the writer, so every single story told has either happened to a writer or to a friend or family member or colleague of the writer.”

She says what makes it real is that the show deals with real moments that happen to women as they age, from children flying the nest to navigating the dating pool.

“You don’t flat line at 50 or 60. People are living pretty colourful, interesting, exciting lives and they have influence and authority. They’re trying new things. They’re leaving marriages. They’re saying goodbye to kids. They’re starting new jobs, they’re leaving jobs, and they’re getting married, they are widows, there’s just endless amounts to talk about and it should be,” she says.

‘It is insane there aren’t more shows like us’

Her co-star Kristin Davis agrees and states her main hope for returning was to break certain taboos for women now in their 50s.

“It is insane that there aren’t more shows like us, you know? I’m hoping that there will be,” she says. “It’s very interesting that somehow women, especially at a certain age, you’re just supposed to just vanish. I don’t know where we’re supposed to be and that just makes no sense.”

Sex And The City was ‘incredibly white’, says Cynthia Nixon

For Cynthia Nixon, playing Miranda now as a lesbian character allowed the show to explore the challenges that face people coming out later in life and navigating the world they find themselves in.

She says although Sex And The City broke taboos for white women in their 30s, she felt the original iteration of their show wasn’t as reflective of the real world as it could have been.

“The one thing that didn’t really sit well with me in the past was how incredibly white the show was,” she says. “So, I think to expand the universe of, you know, who gets to be centred in the show has been a tremendous boon. Whether you’re talking about people of colour, whether you’re talk about queer people, people of different ages. We used to have a wonderfully fascinating lens, but it was fairly narrow.

“We’ve moved in our view of queer people… for so long, if you wanted to put a gay person on screen, one of the ways to make them palatable was to really emphasise their funniness and I think we have many very funny gay characters, but we’re able to, I think, have a more well-rounded view of them.”

And Just Like That is available on Sky and NOW.

Race Across The World contestant Sam Gardiner has died at the age of 24 in a car crash, his family has said.

In a statement, his mother Jo – who appeared on the 2019 series with him – and his father Andrew said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved son Sam in a terrible accident.

“Sam left us far too soon, and whilst words will never fully capture the light, joy and energy he brought into our lives, we hold on to the memories that made him so special.

“Sam was adored by his family. As a son, brother and nephew, he was loyal, funny and fiercely protective.”

They added that taking part in Race Across The World “opened his eyes to the wonder of adventure and travel”.

The statement continued: “He was willing to go wherever the trail might lead and he touched everyone he met on the road.

“Sam brought warmth, laughter and a smattering of chaos wherever he went. He leaves behind a huge hole in our hearts.

“He found great happiness working as a landscape gardener on the west coast of Scotland. He leaves behind a huge hole in our hearts. We will miss him endlessly, but we’ll also remember him with smiles, tall tales, and a depth of love that will never fade.”

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the car accident happened on the A34 in Gatley, near Cheadle on Monday night. He died from his injuries on Thursday, they said.

“Emergency services attended the scene after a vehicle was reported to have left the carriageway and rolled before landing on its side,” a spokesperson said.

The 24-year-old was the only person in his car and no other vehicles were involved, they added.

A spokesperson for the makers of Race Across The World said: “Everyone who worked with him and indeed everyone who watched Sam could see just how precious and transformative the trip was for both him and his mum, Jo.

“Sam embraced the seven-week trip with an energy, love and a determination that saw the pair enjoy adventures across Mexico to Argentina making audiences fall in love with them and their special bond as a result.

“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to his parents, Andrew and Jo; his brothers, William and Charlie; his step mum Justine; his family and friends.”