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.
The handsome Sir Tristan undertakes a quest from his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, to rescue his betrothed, the Princess Iseult, from her wicked uncle Morholt. Tristan slays Morholt, but in turn is dealt a mortal blow, surviving only by the healing arts of Iseult. The two fall in love & begin a love affair, though it pains them to hurt King Mark in this way. Eventually, Tristan can no longer bear the guilt of betraying his uncle & he crosses the Channel into Brittany, coming into the service of King Howel. Eventually Tristan marries Blanchmaine, Howel's daughter. Theirs, however, is a loveless marriage as Tristan pines for Iseult. One day, after facing his father-in-law's enemies in battle, Tristan once again suffers a poisoned wound, able to be healed only by his love, Iseult of Ireland. He writes to her, telling her that if she comes & still loves him to set white sails upon the ship, but if their love has ended to rig the ship's sail black. In a fevered haze, Tristan mistakes Blanchmaine for Iseult. As her ship comes into harbor, Tristan begs his wife to tell him the color of the sails. Years of jealousy cause her to lie & tell him the sails are black. Heartbroken, he succumbs to his wounds.
