22 May 2023
Hyderabad
In a shocking bit of news that came to light tonight, Irish actor Ray Stevenson, who received plaudits for his turn as the menacing governor Scott Buxton in SS Rajamouli’s RRR, breathed his last on Sunday. There’s no information on the cause of his death. The 6-foot-3 actor died at the age of 58 while filming Cassino in Ischia in Italy. He was four days shy of ringing in his 59th birthday.
Stevenson was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on 25 May 1964, the second of three sons born to Irish parents. He made his film debut with Helena Bonham Carter-starrer The Theory of Flight (1998), directed by Bourne series filmmaker Paul Greengrass, and subsequently went on to feature in a number of films like GMT – Greenwich Mean Time, King Arthur and Outpost (first leading role). In Marvel’s Punisher: War Zone, he played Frank Castle / The Punisher, a former Marine who turns vigilante after the murder of his family. In 2010, he played an antagonist in the comedy The Other Guys. He starred as Volstagg, one of Thor's trusted comrades, in the 2011 Marvel film Thor. He went on to reprise the role in a pair of sequels: Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017). In 2014, he starred in the film Divergent, based on the first book of The Divergent Series. He reprised his role in the sequels, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, released in March 2015, and The Divergent Series: Allegiant, released in March 2016. He was recently tapped for the historical drama 1242: Gateway to the West, replacing Kevin Spacey.
On TV, he was known for playing Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO series Rome. His other television work includes guest appearances in popular series including Waking the Dead and Murphy's Law as well as lead roles in City Central and At Home with the Braithwaites.
Stevenson married English actress Ruth Gemmell in London in 1997. They divorced in 2005 after eight years of marriage
