Ricky Gervais pays tribute to late The Office co-star Ewen MacIntosh
The death has been announced of The Office star Ewen MacIntosh.
Ewen, who starred as Keith Bishop in the hit British sitcom, has died at the age of 50.
Following the devastating news of Ewen’s passing, The Office’s leading star has started a wave of tributes to the actor and comedian.
Ricky, who co-created, co-wrote, and played the role of David Brent in The Office, took to social media earlier today in honour of his late castmate.
Extremely sad news. The very funny and very lovely Ewen Macintosh, known to many as 'Big Keith' from The Office, has passed away. An absolute original. RIP. pic.twitter.com/Hhd3zkRVMs
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) February 21, 2024
On X (formerly Twitter), Ricky posted a still of Ewen in character as Keith.
“Extremely sad news. The very funny and very lovely Ewen Macintosh, known to many as 'Big Keith' from The Office, has passed away,” the 62-year-old penned.
“An absolute original. RIP,” Ricky added.
Ricky, who later went on to give Ewen a cameo role in his Netflix series After Life, also shared a snap of a trophy the cast and crew won in 2002, for ‘TV Comedy Moment of the Year’.
“This was for Keith’s appraisal scene,” he revealed alongside the image.
Stephen Merchant, who co-created and co-wrote The Office with Ricky, later took to social media to share his memories of Ewen.
On Instagram, the TV star posted two throwback photos of Ewen on the set of the hit sitcom.
“I’m so very sad to hear of the passing of Ewen MacIntosh, a lovely and uniquely funny man who played accountant Keith in The Office,” Stephen wrote.
“I fondly recall we asked him to improvise an out-of-office message, and he was so hilarious we started writing more and more dialogue for him. He soon stole every scene he was in. A total one-off. A tragic loss. RIP,” the 49-year-old concluded.
Many The Office fans have since been taking to the comments sections of Ricky and Stephen’s tributes to pay their own respects.
“Naturally funny guy gone too soon. Rest in peace!!” one Instagram follower responded.
“A true legend, will never fail to crack me up when rewatching The Office,” another agreed.
