Famous Star Wars, Marvel Actor Ray Stevenson Dead at 58

By
David Rufful
-
OPINION | This article contains opinion that reflects the author's views.

Memorable actor Ray Stevenson has died unexpectedly at the age of 58.

He was known for so many characters and performed in major movie roles, Star Wars, Marvel’s Thor, and Punisher.

The cause of death has not been made available. Stevenson was in Italy filming his latest movie project.

Stevenson is featured in the upcoming live-action Star Wars: Ahsoka.

Born on a British army base in 1964, Stevenson was the son of a Royal Air Force pilot and an Irish woman.

He moved to England at age eight and eventually attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England.

More on this developing story:

He married actress Ruth Gemmell in 1997 and divorced in 2005 after eight years of marriage.

Stevenson’s onscreen debut came with The Theory of Flight in 1998, a film from Bourne Trilogy’s Paul Greengrass starring Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh; Stevenson played a high-priced gigolo. He found something of a niche for himself playing one of King Arthur’s Knights (Dagonet) in the infamous 2004 King Arthur film by Antoine Fuqua – which again saw Stevenson holding his own in a supporting role alongside names that are so famous now (Clive Owen, Kiera Knightley, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Winstone, Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy).

— Advertisement —

King Arthur (2004) propelled Stevenson into the ‘swords and sandals’ genre with HBO’s Rome (2005-2007), which had Stevenson co-starring in the lead role of a Roman Legionnaire with a troubled mind. Rome got Stevenson more central film roles in projects like Outpost, and his starring role as Marvel’s Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone (2008).

Even though Punisher didn’t pan out at the box office, Ray Stevenson went on to continue being a featured actor in so many big genre projects on TV and film – including Starz’s pirate drama Black Sails, Showtime’s Dexter, Vikins, Star Wars Rebels, the Thor Trilogy, The Book of Eli, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the Divergent films, and even some starring film roles like the 2011 crime biopic Kill the Irishman.