Nicol Williamson who played Merlin in John Boorman's Excalibur, dies of cancer.
The British actor known for his memorable role as Merlin in the 1981 film, as well as The Seven-Per-Cent Solution as Sherlock Holmes died in Amsterdam on December 16th of esophageal cancer, reports Variety.
Sad news indeed. I remember watching Excalibur over 20 times at least when I was younger. A timeless classic that can be watched today and still be incredibly powerful.
Williamson was nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards for 1968's The Bofors Gun and Inadmissible Evidence in the same year. He also scored a BAFTA TV Award for his work in 1972's The Gangster Show: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.
His other credits include Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed snake thriller Venom (1981), Return to Oz in 1985, Black Widow and The Exorcist III, among many other TV and film performances.
Williamson's last role was as Cogliostro in 1997's Spawn based on the Todd McFarlane comic book, which was helmed by Mark A.Z. Dippe. Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo, Martin Sheen, D.B. Sweeney and Theresa Randle also starred.