Ewen MacIntosh, the Welsh actor best known for his deadpan performance as accountant Keith Bishop in the U.K. version of The Office, has died, his management company said Wednesday. He was 50.
No cause of death was given, but JustRight Management said he’d been supported by a care home and that MacIntosh’s family were thankful for their efforts. “Extremely sad news,” Ricky Gervais, the co-creator of the sitcom which made MacIntosh famous, wrote in an X post. “The very funny and very lovely Ewen... known to many as ‘Big Keith’ from The Office, has passed away. An absolute original.”
Stephen Merchant, Gervais’ creative collaborator on The Office, said MacIntosh was so “hilarious” that “when we asked him to improv a voicemail message... we wrote more dialogue for him, and he stole every scene he was in.”
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“A total one-off,” Merchant added. “A tragic loss.”
Actor Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin Malone, the character based on Keith in the American version of The Office, wrote on Instagram that he was “absolutely gutted” by the news, adding that he and MacIntosh will “forever be bonded together” through their two characters.
Gervais later shared a photo of a 2002 TV award given for “Keith’s appraisal scene,” one of fans’ favorite moments from the series. Another beloved moment from the series features MacIntosh taking a bite out of a scotch egg during a scene with Martin Freeman which the latter struggled to perform because he found it so funny.
MacIntosh also had bit parts in other Gervais shows, including After Life and Life’s Too Short. He appeared in other British sitcoms including the radio comedy Cabin Pressure alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, and played a waiter in Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2015 film The Lobster.
“Ewen was so full of empathy, kindness, and integrity and above all a really good man,” Ed Scott, a friend of MacIntosh’s, wrote in a tribute, adding that he is “completely devastated by the loss.” Scott also thanked medical staff who had supported MacIntosh, “especially the nurses who all loved him when he brought a smile to their days.”
