
Died at 62
male
Ray Stevenson (May 25, 1964 – May 21, 2023) was a film, TV and stage actor. He moved with his family to Lemington, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England in 1972 at the age of eight, and later to Cramlington, Northumberland, where he was raised. The second of three sons of a Royal Air Force pilot father and an Irish mother, As a child he dreamed to become an actor, but he also thought that dream was impossible. So he pursued his other love, art, and went to art school instead. He was an interior designer with an architectural firm in London when he at 25 decided to try out acting. Eventually he attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating at the age of 29. At the beginning of 90s, he began his career on films. He did a few TV films, one of them being The Return of the Native (1994), where he appeared opposite Clive Owen, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Steven Mackintosh. He also filmed The Theory of Flight (1998) Greenwich Mean Time (1999), Green-Eyed Monster (2001) (TV) and a lot of TV guest roles in series. Finally, he made a international breakout with King Arthur (2004), as quiet, but loyal knight Dagonet, again with Clive Owen (who played Arthur), Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, Ray Winstone and Stellan Skarsgard. After a few more TV films, Stevenson's popularity stared to rise by each film. But, the real fame comes with HBO's "Rome" (2005 - 2007), as funny, but heroically fearless legionary Titus Pullo, opposite Kevin McKidd. Another two well-known roles were in action horror Outpost (2008) and as comic book dark hero The Punisher / Frank Castle in extremely violent Punisher: War Zone (2008), opposite Dominic West (Jigsaw), Doug Hutchison, Colin Salmon, Wayne Knight (Microchip), Dash Mihok (Det. Marin Soap) and Julie Benz. To mention that Stevenson also worked on stage. He played the part of Christ in the York Mystery Plays in 2000 at York Minster. In 2001 he took the part of Roger in the play Mouth to Mouth by Kevin Elyot, at the Albery Theatre in London with Lindsay Duncan and Michael Maloney. His most well-known part was perhaps that of the Cardinal in The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster with Janet McTeer at the Royal National Theatre in 2003. Stevenson and his girlfriend Elisabetta Carccia have a son Sebastiano Derek Stevenson, who was born in 2007. Besides acting, he loved art and had a passion for water color painting.

Ray Stevenson

Rudd Threetrees
for Rudd Threetrees in The First Law Trilogy
Suggested by paulsousa

The series takes place in a fictional world that is reminiscent of medieval Europe called the Circle of the World. The action, for the most part, takes place in or regards people from the central realm the Union. The Union is beset upon on all sides by savages from the North, the mighty Gurkish Empire to the south, mercenary bands from the continent of Styria to the east, and the machinations of the crumbling Old Empire in the west. The Union appears to be maneuvered into a state of near-perpetual war by an uncompromisingly proud foreign policy, while the dysfunctional government, nobles and merchants fight amongst themselves. This is a world filled with bad people who do the right thing, good people who do the wrong thing, stupid people who do the stupid thing and, well, pretty much any combination of those. Survival is no mean feat, and at the end of the day, dumb luck might be more of an asset than any amount of planning, skill, or noble intention. The original trilogy comprises the novels The Blade Itself (2006), Before They Are Hanged (2007) and Last Argument of Kings (2008). It follows the interweaving viewpoints of Logen Ninefingers, Jezal dan Luthar, Sand dan Glokta, Ferro Maljinn, the Dogman, and Collem West. Each is drawn in the plan of Bayaz, a wizard from an older time, to save the world -http://firstlaw.wikia.com





