Oct
Gavin Creel, Tony-Winning Actor, Passes Away at 48 Due to Cancer
Gavin Creel, the acclaimed Tony and Olivier Award-winning theater actor, has sadly passed away at the age of 48 after a battle with cancer. His publicist confirmed that Creel died on Monday in Manhattan from a rare and aggressive type of sarcoma. He was diagnosed with the illness in July.
Plans for a small private gathering for friends and family will be shared later. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations in his memory be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Creel made his Broadway debut in 2002, captivating audiences in the role of Jimmy Smith alongside Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie, which earned him his first Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actor. He went on to originate the role of Hollis Bessemer in Stephen Sondheim’s Bounce and portrayed Jean-Michel in the revival of La Cage aux Folles.
His standout performance as Cornelius Hackl in the 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly!, alongside Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce, secured him not only his first Tony win but also accolades from the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards. Creel’s impressive career also included performances in Hair, Waitress, Into the Woods, She Loves Me, and The Book of Mormon, for which he received an Olivier Award for his role as Elder Price.
Reflecting on his journey from Ohio to New York City in a documentary short released earlier this year by Broadway Collection, Creel noted that it was a high school production of Camelot that ignited his passion for theater. “I knew I got bit by the bug because when that show ended, I was depressed,” he shared. “The show was fun, the music was great, but it was about the people I was with. We were all united by a common, passionate goal to tell a story. I wanted that for a living. I wanted to be part of that for my life.”
In addition to his stage work, Creel appeared in television and film, including Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Stories in 2021, as well as the TV movies Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime.
Creel is survived by his parents, Nancy Clemens Creel and James William Creel; his sisters, Heather Elise Creel and Allyson Jo Creel, along with her wife, Jen Kolb; his partner, Alex Temple Ward; and his beloved dog, Nina.
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