Ian Gelder, the actor who played Kevan Lannister on HBO‘s Game of Thrones, has died. He was 74 years old.
“It is with huge huge sadness and a heavy heart broken into a million pieces that I’m leaving this post to announce the passing of my darling husband and life partner Ian Gelder,” fellow actor Ben Daniels wrote in a heartbreaking tribute on Instagram. “Ian was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in December and yesterday he passed at 13.07. I’d stopped all work to be his carer but neither of us had any idea that it would all be so fast.”
Daniels called Gelder his “absolute rock and we’d been partners for more than 30 years. If we weren’t together we spoke to each other everyday. He was the kindest, most generous spirited and loving human being. He was a wonderful wonderful actor and everyone who worked with him was touched by his heart and light… He coped with his dreadful illness with such bravery, with no self pity. Ever. He was remarkable and will be so missed.”
Gelder appeared in 12 episodes of Game of Thrones as the brother of Lord Tywin Lannister and possibly the most decent member of the family (he also memorably defies Cersei). The veteran character actor also had roles in Doctor Who, Torchwood: Children of Earth, and His Dark Materials.
You can read the full Instagram post below.