Marcus Gilbert, a fan favorite actor for appearing in Sam Raimi’s horror-comedy classic Army of Darkness, has passed away.
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According to his fansite, Gilbert died on Jan. 11 at the age of 67, following a three-year battle with throat cancer.
Per IMDb, Gilbert’s screen acting career spanned from 1983 to 2015, earning him around 30 credits. His roles included a villain in Rambo III, multiple appearances on Doctor Who, and a leading role in the TV movie adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Riders.
However, Gilbert earned horror icon status for his role as Lord Arthur in director Raimi’s Army of Darkness, the third film in the prolific Evil Dead franchise. He later returned to the character, providing the voice for Arthur in Evil Dead: The Game.
Born on July 29, 1958, Gilbert graduated from Mountview Theatre School in 1981. He was a founding member of the Odyssey Theatre Company, performing contemporary classics for London schools. He also honed his craft at the Dundee Repertory Theatre and Manchester’s Library Theatre.
His extensive television career included roles in Diana, Robin of Sherwood, Jonathan Creek, and Murder, She Wrote. He also appeared in several mini-series and TV movies, such as Master of the Game, Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death, and A Ghost in Monte Carlo.
In addition to his iconic role in Army of Darkness, his film credits included Biggles: Adventures in Time, Legacy, and Freebird.
Marcus Gilbert Nearly Landed an Iconic Role in the 1980s
He also ran his own film production company, Touch the Sky Productions, and appeared in over 50 commercials. One of them, an ad for Lee Jeans, won the best cinema commercial award in 1986.
In the late 1980s, Gilbert auditioned to play James Bond in The Living Daylights but lost the part to Timothy Dalton.
Gilbert was married to Homaa Khan-Gilbert from 1992 until her passing from pancreatic cancer in 2020. Shortly after, Gilbert was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In 2023, he began a relationship with his A Ghost In Monte Carlo co-star, Lysette Anthony, who also has Parkinson’s.
He is survived by Anthony and his two children, son Maxi and daughter Aaliya.