Cheers and West Wing star Roger Rees dies aged 71 after a brief illness

  • Actor played English tycoon Robin Colcordin in American sitcom
  • Also famous as UK Ambassador Lord John Marbury in The West Wing
  • Rees died nearly two months after pulling out of new Broadway play

Former Cheers and West Wing Star Roger Rees has died aged 71, his spokesman has confirmed.

The Tony Award-winning actor passed away at home on Friday night after a brief illness. He is survived by his husband, the playwright Rick Elice, who co-wrote Jersey Boys.

In May, Rees had to pull out of his lead role in acclaimed Broadway play The Visit, a month after it opened, due to unspecified ill health. His understudy Tom Nelis stepped in for him and remains in the role. 

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Roger Rees died on Friday at age 71, pictured in May in New York

Roger Rees died on Friday at age 71, pictured in May in New York

Sitcom favorite: Rees started playing Cheers character Robin Colcordin, an English tycoon, in 1989

Sitcom favorite: Rees started playing Cheers character Robin Colcordin, an English tycoon, in 1989

Scott Heller of the New York Times tweeted late on Friday a statement from Rees's rep, which said: 'Roger Rees, Tony Award-winning actor, passed away tonight at home, after brief illness.'

Rees won the award for his lead performance in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby, which he starred in on both the London and Broadway stages from 1980 to 1982. 

The Welshman was best known for playing the characters Robin Colcord on the American sitcom Cheers and Lord John Marbury on The West Wing.

Taking Washington by storm: Rees also played Lord John Marbury in The West Wing from the year 2000

Taking Washington by storm: Rees also played Lord John Marbury in The West Wing from the year 2000

Rees in 1983, not long after he won a Tony Award for for his performance in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby

Rees in 1983, not long after he won a Tony Award for for his performance in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby

He also had a memorable role on My So-Called Life, playing Claire Danes' substitute teacher Mr Racine in 1994.

Rees played the Sheriff Of Rottingham in Robin Hood: Men In Tights, and had a role in Titanic. 

The actor was born in Aberystwyth, Wales in 1944. But he spent his childhood in south London, where he learned that he had a knack for art.

'I was at a pretty rough school, and the only thing I was good at was art,' Rees recalled during an interview with Playbill in 2013. 

'I got out of this school and went to Camberwell College of Arts, a terribly prestigious thing to do. I was there to be a painter. And I sketched so well that a year later I was sent to Slade School of Fine Art, one of the great art schools.'

But he soon changed directions when he was asked to fill in for a part at Wimbledon Theatre where he was painting a backdrop.

'And I suddenly was an actor. I played the lead. I don't remember being nervous. I learned to be nervous later.'

He had a memorable role on My So-Called Life, playing Claire Danes' substitute teacher Mr Racine in 1994

He had a memorable role on My So-Called Life, playing Claire Danes' substitute teacher Mr Racine in 1994

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