'Game of Thrones' Actor Ian Gelder Dead at 74
Ian Gelder
Ian Gelder, the actor who played Kevan Lannister in several episodes of Game of Thrones, has died. He was 74.
Gelder's passing was confirmed by his longtime husband, Ben Daniels, who shared the devastating news in a social media post on Tuesday, May 7. According to Daniels' post, Gelder died after a brief battle with bile duct cancer.
"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," Daniels wrote on Instagram, alongside a selfie of the pair taken just months before Gelder's death.
"Ian was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in December and yesterday he passed at 13.07 [1:07 ET]. I’d stopped all work to be his carer but neither of us had any idea that it would all be so fast," his grieving husband wrote. "He was my absolute rock and we’d been partners for more than 30 years. If we weren’t together we spoke to each other everyday."
Daniels went on to call his late partner the "kindest, most generous spirited and loving human being." He also called him a "wonderful wonderful actor" and said that "everyone who worked with him was touched by his heart and light."
Fans will recognize Gelder from HBO's Game of Thrones, in which he appeared as Kevan Lannister for 12 episodes. Aside from that, Gelder had a vast number of TV credits under his belt, including roles in I Thought You'd Gone, The Bill, Torchwood, Doctor Who, EastEnders, Snatch, His Dark Materials, Casualty, Fifteen-Love and many others.
Rest in peace #IanGelder. A fantastic actor. I was very lucky to meet him and work with him back when we did Twelfth Night in 2021. Really admired his work. Very sad to hear this news and thoughts are with his family. pic.twitter.com/cjZA6za07d
— Sebastian Storey | Actor | (@sebstorey2) May 7, 2024
Most recently, Gelder appeared in an episode of Father Brown, and according to TV Insider, he will appear in Interview With the Vampire Season 2, as well as Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2.
In his husband's Instagram tribute, Daniels wrote, "I honestly don’t know what I’ll do without him by my side. He coped with his dreadful illness with such bravery, with no self pity. Ever. He was remarkable and will be so missed."
"Rest well my sweet Chianni. Xxxx," the emotional message concluded.
