Ray Stevenson

Biography

George Raymond Stevenson, known as Ray Stevenson (Lisburn, Northern Ireland, 1964 - Lacco Ameno, Italy, 2023), was a British actor in film and television. His career spanned historical drama, action cinema, comic book adaptations and cult television series. He is best remembered for playing the legionary Titus Pullo in Rome and the warrior Volstagg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

He grew up in England, in Lemington and Cramlington, and first worked as a designer for an architecture firm in London. At 25 he began formal acting training at the Bristol Old Vic, and then built a career in British television with series such as Band of Gold and Peak Practice. He made his film debut in 1998 with The Theory of Flight, playing a gigolo, and over the following decade he moved between productions of very different tones.

His breakthrough came with Rome, a co-production between the BBC and HBO, in which he played Titus Pullo. His film credits include Dagonet in King Arthur (2004), Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone (2008), Porthos in The Three Musketeers (2011) and Danny Greene in Kill the Irishman (2011). On television he was noted for the Ukrainian mobster Isaak Sirko in the seventh season of Dexter and for Blackbeard in Black Sails. He also worked on stage, playing the Cardinal in The Duchess of Malfi at the Royal National Theatre in 2003.

In his later years he appeared in Vikings, The Spanish Princess and Das Boot, and voiced Star Wars characters such as Gar Saxon. His role as Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka (2023) was among the last of his work to reach audiences. He was married to actress Ruth Gemmell from 1997 to 2005 and later to anthropologist Elisabetta Caraccia, with whom he had children. He died in May 2023, aged 58, on the island of Ischia, and the cause of death has not been made public. Rory McCann took over the Skoll role for the second season of Ahsoka.

Key films

• King Arthur (2004): as Dagonet, a Knight of the Round Table who sacrifices his life for his comrades.
• Punisher: War Zone (2008): as Frank Castle, the Marvel vigilante, in one of the film versions of the character.
• Thor (2011): as Volstagg, a loyal comrade of Thor and a recurring figure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• The Three Musketeers (2011): as Porthos in Paul W. S. Anderson's adaptation.
• RRR (2022): as the villainous colonial governor Scott Buxton, marking his debut in Indian cinema.