Update, April 14, 3 p.m. ET: The cause of death of actor Adrian Schiller has been released. As reported by The Standard, his agents say he died of a "major ischaemic stroke." Per the Mayo Clinic, "An ischemic stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is blocked or reduced."
"While his death has left his family and friends shocked and grief-stricken, it is of some comfort to know that he will have died almost instantly and not felt any pain," his reps at Scott Marshall Partners said in a statement to The Standard. A funeral will be held in May, with a public memorial planned for a later date.
Original Story, April 4, 3:12 p.m. ET: Adrian Schiller, the British actor who starred as Monsieur D'arque in Disney's 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast, has died. Schiller passed away "suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 60, his talent agency Scott Marshall Partners confirmed Thursday. Schiller's cause of death is not known at this time.
"He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss," the statement read, per Independent. "A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in The Lehman Trilogy and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco."
Born in London in February 1964, Schiller's acting career spanned decades and began with a role in the long-running British procedural Prime Suspect in 1992. Throughout the '90s, the actor also appeared in Ghosts (1994) and the TV movie RKO 281 (1999), before going on to star in titles including A Touch of Frost (2000), My Family (2001), Judge John Deed, and Silent Witness (2007).
Schiller notably starred as Monsieur D'arque, the proprietor of the local insane asylum, in 2017's Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as Beast. He was also well-known for playing rich ealdorman Aethelhelm in Netflix's historical drama The Last Kingdom and steward Cornelius Penge in ITV royal drama Victoria. According to the BBC, Schiller most recently appeared in the theater production The Lehman Trilogy in Australia, with his agent stating that the actor had been "looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco."
Amid news of his passing, Schiller's sister, Ginny, paid tribute to him in a statement shared to the actor's X (formerly Twitter) account, writing, "I'm so sorry to let you all know that our beloved brother Adrian died suddenly at home yesterday. He had so many very dear friends – sorry to those of you who are learning about this here. We will say more about funeral and/or memorial plans in due course." Ginny added that the family is "taking things one step at a time, supporting Milena [his partner] and Gabriel [his son] as best we can and trying to get our heads around the unimaginable." She also shared a GoFundMe page named Gabriel's Trust, writing, "to honour Adrian we are asking for donations to Gabriel's Trust, to help support his son Gabriel and partner Milena."
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