The British theater world is mourning one of its most revered talents.<\/b>
\nAcclaimed Shakespearean actor Sir Antony Sher has died from cancer. He was 72. One of the leading actors of his generation, the Capetown, South Africa, native was an honorary associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which confirmed his passing on Friday. \u201cAntony was deeply loved and hugely admired by so many colleagues,\u201d the Stratford-upon-Avon-based organization said in a statement. \u201cHe was a ground-breaking role model for many young actors, and it is impossible to comprehend that he is no longer with us. We will ensure friends far and wide have the chance to share tributes and memories in the days to come.\u201d Gregory Doran, Sher\u2019s husband since 2005, took a compassionate leave from his role as the Royal Shakespeare Company\u2019s artistic director in September to care for him. Sher was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year. Sher, who moved from South Africa to Britain in the late 1960s to study drama, joined the RSC in 1982 and had a breakthrough role in the 1984 production of \u201cRichard III.\u201d He went on to garner praise for his portrayal of Shakespeare\u2019s most meaty male roles, including Leontes in \u201cThe Winter\u2019s Tale,\u201d Shylock in \u201cThe Merchant of Venice,\u201d Iago in \u201cOthello,\u201d Falstaff in the \u201cHenry IV\u201d plays, and the title characters in \u201cMacbeth\u201d and \u201cKing Lear.\u201d Considered a pillar of British theater, Sher also performed his first West End starring role as a drag artist in Harvey Fierstein\u2019s \u201cTorch Song Trilogy,\u201d which won him the 1985 best actor Olivier Award jointly for \u201cTorch Song Trilogy\u201d and \u201cRichard III.\u201d He won his second Olivier for playing artist Stanley Spencer in Pam Gems\u2019 \u201cStanley\u201d at the National Theatre. The production\u2019s 1997 Broadway run gained him as a Tony Award nomination and a Theater World Award. Sher last appeared on The Great White Way in 2005\u2032s \u201cPrimo,\u201d which he adapted from Primo Levi\u2019s Auschwitz memoir \u201cIf This is a Man\u201d into a one-man stage show. Knighted in 2000 for his services to the arts, Sher wasn\u2019t only recognized for his acting prowess. Offstage, he was a painter and author. His multiple books include the theatre journals \u201cYear of the King,\u201d and \u201cWoza Shakespeare!\u201d (co-written with Doran), four novels including the 1988 international bestseller \u201cMiddlepost,\u201d three plays, a television screenplay and his memoir \u201cBeside Myself.\u201d His film and television appearances include \u201cMrs Brown,\u201d \u201cAlive and Kicking,\u201d \u201cThe History Man\u201d and J.G. Ballard\u2019s \u201cHome.\u201d Sher\u2019s final starring role for the Royal Shakespeare Company was 2019\u2032s \u201cKunene and The King\u201d by South African actor and playwright John Kani. The critically acclaimed play\u2018s plotline revolved around a cantankerous old actor diagnosed with liver cancer, looked after by a Black South African caretaker who comes out of retirement to do the job. The production transferred to London\u2019s West End in January 2020 before shuttering due to the COVID-19 pandemic two months later. \u201cBoth Tony Sher and I were born when our country South Africa was the worst place a child could be born let alone to be raised by parents who worked very hard to prepare their children for a difficult future \u2014 Apartheid South Africa,\u201d Kani said in a statement Friday. He continued: \u201cBy the Grace his God and my Ancestors, like Romeo and Juliet, we found each other in 1973. We travelled together as compatriots, comrades in the struggle for a better South Africa, as fellow artists and we both had the [honor] of celebrating together twenty-five years of South Africa\u2019s Democracy in my latest play Kunene and the King. I am at peace with you my friend and myself. Exit my King.\u201d<\/p>\n