Actor Ray Stevenson, known for films including King Arthur and Punisher, has died at the age of 58, his representatives have confirmed.
Stevenson also played evil governor Scott Buxton in SS Rajamouli’s global box office hit RRR and is known for playing Volstagg in Marvel’s Thor franchise and Othere in History’s Vikings.
He also has voiced Gar Saxon in the animated Star Wars series The Clone Wars and Rebels and was set to join Rosario Dawson in Disney+’s upcoming The Mandalorian spinoff Ashoka.
The Peter Mayhew Foundation, set up by the actor who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars films, tweeted: “We are sad to hear of the passing of Ray Stevenson.
“You may recognize Ray as Baylon Skoll from the upcoming Ahsoka show on Disney+. You may also remember his work as the voice of mandalorian super commando Gar Saxon in The Clone Wars. Our sincerest condolences to his family.”
Actor James Purefoy, who portrayed Mark Antony in Rome, tweeted: “So sad to hear the news that Ray Stevenson, our Pullo in Rome, has passed away. A brilliant, gutsy, larger-than-life actor who filled every part he played right up to the brim. My thoughts are with his family, his lovely wife Betta and their beautiful kids. What a loss.”
Film director James Gun tweeted: “Damn. So sorry to hear about the passing, far too young, of Ray Stevenson. I only knew him a little from shooting post-credits of Thor 2 & a couple interactions at events, but we had some good laughs & he was a joy to work with. His friends & family are in my heart today.”
Born on May 25, 1964, in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Stevenson began his screen career in the early 1990s, appearing in European TV series and telefilms. His first big-screen credit was opposite Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh in Paul Greengass’ 1998 drama The Theory of Flight.
His first major film role cam in Antoine Fuqua’s 2004’s adventure movie “King Arthur,” where he played Dagonet, one of the Knights of the Round Table.
In 2008, Stevenson landed a starring role in the Marvel film, “Punisher: War Zone,” where he played mercenary Frank Castle.
The film was distributed by Lionsgate in North America, before Disney acquired the rights to the Marvel universe and later re-introduced the character in the Netflix series “Daredevil.”
Stevenson was the third actor to portray the Punisher on screen. Dolph Lundgren first played the vigilante in a straight-to-video release in 1989.
Italian newspaper Repubblica said that Stevenson died while filming a project on the island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, after being hospitalised on Saturday afternoon.
His other recent roles include 2022’s Memory and theTV series Das Boot.
