New Delhi: Jake Abraham, an actor most remembered for his part in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, has passed away at the age of 56.
Abraham, who portrayed Dean in the British gangster movie, said in July that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that he was currently getting palliative treatment.
In addition to Mean Machine and Formula 51, the actor from Liverpool also starred in the 1991 Channel 4 series GBH.
"I had the great pleasure of working with Jake on a few shows I co-produced, Twopence to Cross the Mersey and Lennon's Banjo, he was a wonderful actor, a great company member, and was much loved by so many in the theatre," Bill Elms, a director and producer in Liverpool who frequently collaborated with Jake, said to the Liverpool Echo.
“He will be sadly missed. I have many fond memories of Jake, he was always so upbeat and fun to be around. I admired him for going public with his illness, it will make a difference to many others and save lives.
“It’s a very sad day. RIP and sending my love to his friends and family.”
Abraham earlier disclosed to the Echo that he had visited the doctor following a protracted period of illness and been given the cancer diagnosis. Later, the cancer progressed to the rest of his body, and tumours appeared in his hips, bladder, and spine.
He said, "I was working but I wasn’t feeling well. I was pushing through those spells when you don’t feel yourself, you haven’t got the energy and there are aches and pains."
"What made me go to the doctor and get a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test was that I passed blood in my urine."
"I got a test and ended up in the Royal. He said: ‘You’ve got cancer, I’m so, so sorry.’ He said that I’d had it for years, maybe four years.”
In Ritchie's 1998 masterpiece, Abraham's character was one of two inept burglars ordered to steal a pair of old shotguns.