The Office star Ewen MacIntosh dies age 50: ‘Devastated’ former co-stars pay tribute

The cast of The Office, with Ewen MacIntosh second from left in the back row. Photo / BBC

Ewen MacIntosh, most well-known for his role as Keith Bishop or “Big Keith” in The Office, has died.

It was announced today that the 50-year-old actor - who also starred in Miranda and Little Britain, died in care at Willow Green Care Home in Darlington, England.

The BBC has reported McIntosh’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed. His agency, Just Right Management, told the news outlet there will not be a funeral for the star, rather a private cremation for family and close friends and a memorial service in the coming months.

McIntosh starred in many roles during his acting career, but fans will likely remember him for his time alongside Ricky Gervais in the UK version of The Office.

Starring as the Scotch egg-loving monotone accountant, one of his most memorable scenes came in season two of the show when David Brent (Gervais), the office’s manager, had a meeting with Keith where they listed his strengths and weaknesses.

In the scene, an unenthused Keith responds “don’t know” to all of David’s questions while also confessing he sees eczema as his weakness and accounts as his strength.

A clip of the video shared on YouTube has received over 3.1 million views and thousands of comments.

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. pic.twitter.com/Hhd3zkRVMs

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) February 21, 2024

Many of MacIntosh’s former co-stars have paid tribute to the actor including Gervais, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “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.”

The show’s co-writer and co-director Stephen Merchant also paid tribute, telling BBC Radio 4 that MacIntosh was so funny the team “started writing more and more scenes with him in and eventually he became one of our beloved characters”.

Miranda Hart shared her own kind words after hearing about the actor’s passing, writing on Instagram: “We were the same age and crossed paths many times as we did our best to be funny and make a living out of it,” she added, “It wasn’t always likely but we did it and I am glad we got to do a scene together. Thank you xx.”

Meanwhile, Matt Lucas wrote: “We were lucky enough to have him appear in Little Britain. He was sweet and smart and humble and, of course, brilliantly funny.”