2 months ago
.png)
Ewen MacIntosh's final selfie was shared from a hospital bed during his long-running struggles with his health.
The Office star, who played Keith Bishop in the original UK version of the series, has died at the age of 50, his management announced on Wednesday, prompting a wave of tributes and memories from fans and famous friends.
The selfie was posted by MacIntosh to X, formerly Twitter, on February 6 2022 - around three weeks after he had made a cameo role in Office co-star Ricky Gervais' Netflix series After Life's third and final series.
The photo showed him shirtless in a hospital bed attached to monitoring equipment.
He captioned it: 'Bad times for me I'm afraid chums. Stat (sic) strong out there,' signing it off with a thumbs-up emoji.
Ewen MacIntosh shared this selfie of himself in a hospital bed in February 2022 - the last photo of himself he shared
MacIntosh won fans for his portrayal of the deadpan, Scotch egg-loving accounts department worker Keith Bishop in The Office
He made a cameo appearance as 'Buffet Man' in the final series of Ricky Gervais' After Life on Netflix - the show airing weeks before he shared his hospital selfie
Ricky Gervais shared a number of tributes to MacIntosh on X, formerly Twitter, including an image of himself opposite the actor in a Red Nose Day Office sketch
Fans and friends alike responded to the post at the time with best wishes, including some with references to his role in the iconic BBC series opposite Ricky Gervais.
His character, Keith, was fixated on Scotch eggs and watching repeats of Peak Practice; his appraisal by Gervais' David Brent, in which he lists 'eczema' as a weakness, is beloved by fans and held up as a standout scene in the series.
The hospital selfie was the last photo MacIntosh shared of himself on social media, having stopped posting on X in 2022.
Up until April that year, he had been posting jokes, sharing his progress on variations of the word game Wordle, and linking to the personalised celebrity greetings website Memmo, where he could be booked for video messages.
Bookings could not be made on his Memmo page as of earlier today. In 2021, he offered personalised videos for $58.50 - and offered himself up for advertising campaigns for $533.50.
He also stopped posting on Instagram in 2021. However, the comments of his old posts on the Meta-owned photo-sharing website are littered with tributes posted by fans today.
His cause of death was not revealed in the announcement, but his family thanked Willow Green Care Home in Darlington for their support in his last days, while friends confirmed he had been receiving treatment in the runup to his death.
The statement, issued on Wednesday morning, read: 'With great sadness we announce the peaceful passing of our beloved comedy genius Ewen MacIntosh.
'His family thank all who supported him, especially Willow Green Care Home.
'There will be a private cremation for family & close friends soon & a celebratory memorial later in the year.'
MacIntosh's friend, executive producer Ed Scott, the CEO of Dodged A Bullet Music, also confirmed he had been receiving treatment from doctors and nurses in the runup to his death.
Mr Scott added: 'Ewen was so full of empathy, kindness, and integrity and above all a really good man.
'Sending love to his parents Sara and Ewen Sr, his brother Colin and his family, as well as his many friends and fans.'
He also paid tribute to those who had cared for his friend, penning: 'Thanks to the incredible care and love provided by the wonderful medical staff and especially the nurses who all loved him when he brought a smile to their days.
'I saw first hand the empathy and incredible care they gave him was just so reassuring during the toughest of times and am forever grateful to them all.'
MacIntosh appeared in the final series of Gervais' Netflix show After Life as 'Buffet Man' - a man who was banned from an all-you-can-eat buffet for 'putting it out of business'.
In the memorable scene in which he was interviewed by Gervais' character, journalist Tony Johnson, he was asked if he went 'twice a day' to the buffet for lunch and then for dinner.
With perfect deadpan styling, MacIntosh replies: 'No, from lunch until dinner. Then I was full.'
Gervais has shared a number of memories of working alongside his co-star on X today.
Posting a photo of him as Keith in The Office, he wrote: '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.'
Gervais later shared a picture of a trophy for 'comedy moment of the year', as awarded by the defunct TV Moments Awards - revealing it had been given for Keith's timeless appraisal scene.
He also shared a photo of himself chuckling as David Brent opposite MacIntosh in a Red Nose Day sketch, in which Keith dressed up as Ali G.
The picture was captioned: 'A day without laughter is a day wasted.'
