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Roger Rees, the Welsh actor who rocketed to fame as the title character in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a sprawling stage adaptation of an obscure novel by Charles Dickens, died July 10. He was 71.
A statement from Rees’ publicist, quoted by Heller, read: “Roger Rees, Tony Award-winning actor, passed away tonight at home, after a brief illness.”
Roger Rees took the lead role in “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby,” which played in London and on Broadway from 1980 to 1982. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony for his performance, and reprised the part in a 1982 TV version, which was produced by Colin Callender. Rees was nominated for an Emmy, and the production won the Emmy for outstanding limited series.
Later TV roles included as wealthy Brit Robin Colcord in “Cheers,” and the British ambassador, Lord John Marbury, in “The West Wing.” Other TV performances included as Thomas Paine in TV miniseries “Liberty! The American Revolution,” and roles in two sci-fi series: “M.A.N.T.I.S.,” which was created by Sam Hamm and Sam Raimi, and “Warehouse 13.”
Movie appearances included roles in Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” in which he played the Sheriff of Rottingham, and in Steve Martin’s “The Pink Panther” and Salma Hayek’s “Frida.”
The actor, who was born in Aberystwyth, Wales in 1944, is survived by his husband, the playwright Rick Elice. The couple’s life together was profiled by Michael Schulman in a 2012 article in the New Yorker. Elice co-wrote, with Marshall Brickman, the books for “Jersey Boys” and “The Addams Family,” in which Rees starred as Gomez.
Roger Rees was artistic director for three seasons at Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Mass., which he left in 2007. Rees also directed for the stage. He co-directed, with Alex Timbers, Elice’s adaptation of “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a prequel to “Peter Pan.” The production was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning five, in 2012.
In 2013 he won acclaim for his role in the Roundabout Theater Company revival of “The Winslow Boy,” and in the months before he died he co-starred with Chita Rivera in “The Visit.” He was forced to leave the production in May due to his illness.
Agencies/Canadajournal
