Ray Stevenson, Actor in Black Sails, Vikings and the Thor Films, Dead at 58

Black Sails and Thor actor Ray Stevenson has died, our sister site Variety reports. He was 58.

A cause of death has not yet been made public.

Stevenson appeared in numerous TV shows and films throughout the 1990s and early ’00s before starring opposite Grey’s Anatomy’s Kevin McKidd in the historical drama Rome. He also played Blackbeard in Black Sails and voiced Mandalorian commander Gar Saxon in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Additional TV credits include Vikings, The Spanish Princess, Medici and Dexter.

On the film side, Stevenson portrayed the Asgardian warrior Volstagg in the Thor franchise as well as Marcus in the Divergent trilogy. Other credits include RRR (this year’s Oscar winner for Best Original Song), The Other Guys, The Book of Eli, The Three Musketeers (2011) and Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur.

Stevenson will also play Baylan Skoll in the upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka, which is slated for release this August on Disney+. Skoll, an original character, is a former Jedi who survived Order 66 and is said to be allied with the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen).

The actor previewed his character during Star Wars Celebration in London this past April, telling Screen Rant, “Maybe he’s unique… some catalyst that upsets the apple cart, that sparks off and fires, and yet is meandering through a journey that is colliding and causing reactions… When you see Baylan actually get to meet Thrawn, [you wonder] if it’s the first time or last time. ‘What’s going on again? Hang on, what’s the dynamic here?’”

Launch Gallery: TV Stars We Lost in 2023