British actor Owain Rhys Davies has died aged 44, his family has announced.
The Welsh TV and film star was best known for his role in Twin Peaks, where he played Agent Wilson. He has also starred in The OA, Impact Winter, Alice Through the Looking Glass and A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life over the years.
In a statement, his brother Rhodri wrote: ‘It is with profound sadness that my father and I share the news that my brother, Owain, has passed away.
‘This news will come as a great shock to many. The reach of Owain’s love, friendship, and generosity was vast.’
He shared there were still ‘questions’ over his brother’s sudden death, but ‘our understanding at this stage is that Owain passed suddenly, naturally, and peacefully.’
He continued: ‘The outpouring of messages we have received over the past few days has been deeply moving and a testament to the impact he had on so many lives.
‘Owain was fortunate enough to have more than one family. Alongside his biological one, he built extraordinary, family-like bonds with many of his closest friends, colleagues, and loved ones.’
Calling him ‘a brother to so many others’, he added they ‘take comfort in knowing how loved he was.’
His most recent project was an indie film called La Fantastia, the synopsis of which described it as ‘a surreal drama about grief, imagination & the fragile beauty of the human condition.’
The news of his death has been met with an outpouring of tributes from across the industry.
Scottish actress Ruth Connell wrote: ‘Can’t write this for crying – I can’t see through my glasses all fogged up. Trying to write this as I have been for days, and I can’t imagine when it will be different – the loss to us all who loved him [Owain] beyond measure.’
She called him the ‘funniest. Kindest. Silliest. Deepest. Singie-est. Uniquest…’, adding that he was ‘also diligent, thoughtful as well as just a glorious ray of Welsh sunshine whenever he turned up’ and had an enormous heart.
SNL writer and Welcome to Wrexham star Humphrey Ker shared: ‘My friend Owain has died. Unexpectedly and most unwelcomely.
He was a gentleman and a wally and a talent and a giver and maker of joy.
‘I shall miss him very much. I shall, in the brilliant words of Jack Rooke: “Not let the injustice of what could have been override all the joy of what was.”‘
Downton Abbey star Joanna Froggatt shared her condolences.
‘I am just devastated to lose our beautiful friend, he was more than a friend, he was joy, and life and talent and kindness and fun and intelligence, [he] was everything, and my brain can’t compute that we don’t get to hug him again.
‘What I would give for one more hug. You’re forever in our hearts cariad,’ she reflected.
Netflix star Fra Fee called him the ‘unbelievably beautiful legendary Owain’ who was a ‘LIGHT in our lives’. Fellow star Tom Rooke dubbed him ‘the most beautiful man’.
‘The light & soul of every room he walked into. Endless humour, kindness and generosity,’ he added.
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