British actor Ian Gelder, known for his role playing Kevan Lannister in Game of Thrones, has died just five months after being diagnosed with bile duct cancer. He was 74.
Gelder’s death on Monday was announced by his husband and fellow actor, The Crown’s Ben Daniels, on Instagram Tuesday. Daniels described a “huge huge sadness” and a “heavy heart broken into a million pieces” after the passing of “my darling husband and life partner.”
Daniels added how he had stopped work after the December diagnosis but that “neither of us had any idea that it would all be so fast.”
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Gelder appeared in five of the six seasons of Game of Thrones as the younger brother of Lord Tywin Lannister (played by Charles Dance). His last TV appearance was earlier this year on the British period detective series Father Brown.
Though he found prominence playing Lannister in the hit fantasy series, Gelder’s career lasted decades, beginning in 1972 with the series Scotland Yard. He would go on to star in The Bill, Torchwood, Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Doctor Who, among a long list of credits to his name.
“He was the kindest, most generous spirited and loving human being," Daniels said. “He was a wonderful wonderful actor and everyone who worked with him was touched by his heart and light. I honestly don’t know what I’ll do without him by my side.”
Daniels said that Gelder had “coped with his dreadful illness with such bravery, with no self pity. Ever.”
The National Cancer Institute describes bile duct cancer as a rare disease “in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the bile ducts.” The ducts are small tubes which connect certain organs of the body, including the liver, gallbladder, and small intestine.
Tributes from celebrities including Richard E. Grant soon followed after the news. Gelder’s management wrote in a post on X that “the world will be a lesser place without him in it.”
