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Punisher: War Zone Star Ray Stevenson Dies at 58 - Revisit His Turn as Frank Castle
Stevenson was among a select handful of actors to tackle the role of Frank Castle in the world of live-action.
Ray Stevenson — the Irish actor known for starring roles in Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur, Punisher: War Zone, Marvel's Thor trilogy, the Oscar-winning RRR, and the upcoming Ahsoka television series on Disney+ — has died at the age of 58, just several days shy of his 59th birthday, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed today.
The cause of death is currently unknown, though Stevenson was reportedly hospitalized on the island of Ischia while shooting a new film project with director Frank Ciota.
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Born in Northern Ireland on May 25, 1964, Stevenson — who stood at an imposing height of almost six-and-a-half feet — first hit the small screen in 1993 with a minor role in A Woman's Guide to Adultery.
Over the next three decades, he enjoyed a steady acting career across television and film with prominent appearances in Rome, Dexter, Black Sails, Vikings, The Book of Eli, The Other Guys, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Divergent, and more. As alluded to above, Stevenson had the opportunity to play two different Marvel characters, Frank Castle in 2008's Punisher: War Zone, and Volstagg — a loyal member of Chris Hemsworth's Asgardian entourage — in the first three Thor films released by Marvel Studios. You can revisit his starring turn as Frank Castle streaming on Peacock.
"Kenneth Branagh is such an amazing director. Doing the first one was such a dream come true," he once said of joining the MCU. "They couldn’t have picked a better director to set it up. Vikings in space. With the scale and the Shakespearian aspect of that whole world … It’s just great to be a part of that Marvel universe. It’s such a signature body of work now for our generation. It’s influencing so many other movies now, and I’m just delighted to be a part of it."
Stevenson, who voiced the character of Gar Saxon in Lucasfilm's animated The Clone Wars and Rebels, will posthumously return to the Star Wars universe as the Force-sensitive Baylon Skull in the live-action Ahsoka Tano show coming to Disney+ this August.
"It's for the fans and it keeps you humble, and it keeps you wanting to work as hard as you can," Stevenson promised during an interview with ComicBook.com at Star Wars Celebration in London last month. "Everybody [on Ahsoka] works as hard as they can from the writers on down. There's a humility of greatness where you can't wait to get into work the next day and beast it."
Stevenson is survived by his ex-wife, actress Ruth Gemmell, and three children.
Relive Stevenson's performance as Frank Castle with Punisher: War Zone — now streaming on Peacock.
