Chariots of Fire actor Ben Cross dies aged 72 | Movie



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Stage and movie star Ben Cross has died at the age of 72.

The actor, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning drama Chariots of Fire, died in Vienna from an unspecified illness according to his daughter who confirmed the news on Facebook.

“I’m heartbroken to tell you that my darling father died a few hours ago,” she wrote. “He had been ill for a while, but there has been a rapid decline over the last week.

A graduate of the Rada (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts), Cross moved from stage to screen in A Bridge Too Far in 1977 alongside Sean Connery and Michael Caine, in a role he later described as an “extra”. glorified”. The same year he also became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company before gaining fame playing Billy Flynn in Chicago.

This then led to Harold Abrahams’ starring role in Chariots of Fire, the story of British athletes at the 1924 Olympics, a film he didn’t think would “go beyond the English shores”. It became a hit in the United States and won the Oscar for Best Picture.

“A film like this changes your life professionally,” he said in 2012. “Suddenly, we offer you a lot of work, which is lovely. But since then, I’ve done 80 or 90 projects, none of which has been so successful.

In the years that followed, he starred alongside Richard Gere in First Knight, played Sarek in the 2009 Star Trek reboot, and played Prince Charles in William & Kate: The Movie. He has also released a number of singles, including Name it, You Got it.

Cross also has a number of projects to release, including the Netflix romance Last Letter to Your Lover starring Shailene Woodley and Felicity Jones and the supernatural horror The Devil’s Light starring Virginia Madsen.

He is survived by his wife, Deyana Boneva Cross, and two children, Theo and Lauren.

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