'The Big Bang Theory' Cast and Crew Members Remember Stephen Hawking, Who Has Died at Age 76

News broke to the world and hit social media hard this morning when it was announced that the world renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking, had passed away peacefully at his home at the age of 76. The British scientist was most famous for his work based around black holes and relativity. During his time he wrote a number of books, which includes "A Brief History of Time." Besides science, Hawking has cameo roles in multiple television shows. He appeared in The Simpsons and Futurama. But, his most popular cameo was in The Big Bang Theory, where he showed up multiple times.

Stephen Hawking is one of Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard's heroes. Hawking first appeared in the hit CBC sitcom during the episode "The Hawking Excitation" (Season 5, Episode 21). After begging and begging to Howard, who has been working with Hawking, Howard finally passes Sheldon's paper onto the great scientist and Sheldon finally gets to meet his idol.

Hawking went on to appearing in future episodes, including "The Extract Obliteration," "The Troll Manifestation," and made another cameo in the show's 200th episode "The Celebration Experimentation," where Hawking video-chatted Sheldon to sing Happy Birthday to him at his party. Hawking then made one final cameo before his passing as he gave advice to Sheldon in the newly released Season 11 premiere "The Proposal Proposal." Since his passing, cast members have been sharing their memories of the legendary scientist via social media.

Kaley Cuoco started off the cast tributes by sharing a group photo on Instagram and said:

"It was truly such an honor getting to work with the incredible Stephen Hawking.. He made us laugh and we made him laugh. His life and career workings have been many a subject matter on @thebigbangtheory__ and we are all better for it. You will be missed but the world is grateful for the knowledge and courage you leave in your path. Thank you for being an inspiration to everyone 🙏🏼 #stephenhawking ♥️"

Johnny Galecki, who portrays Sheldon's roommate Leonard, followed in Cuoco's steps and shared the same photo and quoted the genius by saying:

"RIP #stephenhawking Not only your brilliance, but your sense of humor will be sorely missed by all. “Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” — Stephen Hawking"

Mayim Bialik, Sheldon's to-be wife also shared the group photo as originally shared by the show itself this morning and thanked Hawking for "enlightening" and "blessing" us all.

"As we near Pi day (3.14) I join the global community in mourning the loss of the greatest physicist of our era. #StephenHawking is free from the physical constraints of this earthly condition we all exist in and he is soaring above us now marveling at it all. Thank you Dr. Hawking for enlightening us and blessing us with your wisdom and courage."

Jim Parsons himself broke his silence and simply shared a message saying:

"Thank you, Stephen Hawking. ❤️"

Finally, Bill Prady, the co-creator of the hilarious sitcom shared his message via Instagram and said:

"We will miss one of the best recurring characters."

Despite his roles only being very brief in the show, he still played a massive role within the sitcom, which inspired many people within and outside the show. It is currently unknown if The Big Bang Theory writers will be mentioning Stephen Hawking's death into the show or if they will keep the show moving on without bringing up his passing.

The Big Bang Theory Season 11 continues on Thursdays on CBS in America and on Thursdays on E4 in the United Kingdom.