Roger Rees, a beloved stage actor who became a star thanks to his Tony-winning performance in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, died on Friday. The actor, who was also well-known to TV viewers through Cheers and The West Wing, was 71.
Rees’ rep, Rick Miramontez, told the Associated Press that he died following a brief illness. He was just on Broadway until late May in The Visit with Chita Rivera. He had to pull out of the show for a medical procedure.
The actor was a popular mainstay on stage and screen, but none of that would have been possible without Nicholas Nickleby. The hit show was adapted from an obscure Charles Dickens novel by David Edgar and won the 1981 Tony for Best Play. Rees also won Best Actor and a TV broadcast in 1983 earned him an Emmy nomination, notes Playbill.
Prior to Nicholas Nickleby, he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and started working with Tom Stoppard in 1982’s The Real Thing.
Nicholas Nickleby’s success launched his career. After it, he went on to star in Bob Fosse’s last film, Star 80, in 1983 and the hit British series Singles. In 1989, he began playing Robin Colcord on Cheers.
Other TV credits include Boston Common, MANTIS, a Law & Order episode, The West Wing as the British ambassador, Grey’s Anatomy and Warehouse 13. On the film side, he appeared in the 2009 Pink Panther, Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige.
Rees is survived by his husband, playwright Rick Elice. The two collaborated recently on Peter And The Starcatcher.
image courtesy of Walter McBride/INFphoto.com