Comedian and actor Steve Bean has died after a long battle with a rare form of nose cancer.
The actor, best known for his roles in Shameless and Ray Donovan, was just 58 years old when he passed away on January 21, according to Variety.
He had been battling Sino-Nasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, one of the rarest forms of cancer, which resulted in him losing his nose.
RIP: Comedic actor Steve Bean passed away on January 21 at just 58 years of age, after battling a rare form of cancer known as Sino-Nasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Steve Bean Levy, who has died age 58, with his wife wife Carrigan and their son Jacob Randall Levy
His fellow Shameless actor Rebecca Metz, who played Melinda, posted a moving Tribute on Twitter calling Bean ‘an extraordinary friend, husband, father, actor and human being’.
Bean was born Stephen Joseph Levy in Lynn, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, in late April 1960, and raised in Providence, Rhode Island.
He started performing while attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and in local nightclubs.
The comedian teamed up with Chris Zito in 1980, forming a duo known as Zito & Bean, which gained a large following in the Boston comedy scene.
Rebecca Metz, who played Melinda in Shameless alongside Steve Bean Levy, posted this tribute on Twitter
East coast: Bean was born Stephen Joseph Levy in Lynn, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, in late April 1960, and raised in Providence, Rhode Island.
They had their own show for three year’s at the popular Beantown club Play It Again Sam’s, but after a decade, Bean split from the duo to move to Los Angeles.
He quickly found work writing for The Tim Conway Show and Dot Comedy, while also joining the iconic Groundlings Improv Group.
Bean also found steady work as an actor, making his acting debut in, fittingly, the Boston-set sitcom Cheers, playing a reporter.
Working actor: Bean also found steady work as an actor, making his acting debut in, fittingly, the Boston-set sitcom Cheers, playing a reporter
He went on to land guest starring roles in hit shows like Murder She Wrote and Quantum Leap before transitioning to feature films with Vital Signs and Bobcat Goldthwait’s directorial debut, Shakes the Clown.
Bean continued to work regularly with roles in movies like Mousehunt, Blast From the Past and The Out-Of-Towners plus guest starring spots in Dharma & Greg, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Veronica Mars and Justified, to name a few.
Most recently he had guest-starring spots in 2016 in Ray Donovan and Shameless, but towards the end of that year, he was diagnosed with Sino-Nasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Nose cancer: Most recently he had guest-starring spots in 2016 in Ray Donovan and Shameless, but towards the end of that year, he was diagnosed with Sino-Nasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Last September, Bean spoke about his diagnosis and his year of treatment in an article he wrote for Mel Magazine entitled My Year Without a Nose.
Bean’s wife Caroline Carrigan revealed to DailyMail.com that her husband started getting chronic nosebleeds in the fall of 2016, but they started getting, ‘really bad’ by the holiday season.
‘The diagnosis was deviated septum/polyps/sinusitis,’ Carrigan, an actress and screenwriter, said.
‘The tumor, unbeknownst to us, was already pushing his nose literally out of joint and he was starting to look like a boxer. And then like something from Avatar,’ she added.
Living with cancer: Last September, Bean spoke about his diagnosis and his year of treatment in an article he wrote for Mel Magazine entitled My Year Without a Nose
She added that she knew it was cancer, since he was, ‘losing weight steadily,’ but she was not expecting that the doctors were going to remove his nose entirely.
‘I did not expect to be told they were going to remove his nose. You can imagine what that does to a working actor,’ Carrigan said.
It was mentioned at the end of his Mel Magazine article that he was given 9 to 12 months to live, with Carrigan mentioning that after chemotherapy and more radiation didn’t work, they tried a second operation.
Working actor: She added that she knew it was cancer, since he was, ‘losing weight steadily,’ but she was not expecting that the doctors were going to remove his nose entirely
‘There was a second operation where they removed his cheekbone and part of his upper jaw. After the article, they tried 4 months of immunotherapy which would have given him the 9-12 months he mentioned,’ Carrigan said.
‘In the meantime, the tumor kept growing and pushed on his right eye so hard, they had to remove that eye for his comfort.’
He is survived by his wife Carrigan, their son Jacob Randall Levy, his parents, Irwin and Dorothy Levy, sisters, Lauren Levy Brodie and Jill Levy Sorota and other friends and family members.
Donations can be made to Cancer Support Community Pasadena at 76 E. Del Mar Blvd. #215, Pasadena, CA 91105 or to the GoFundMe page that was started in August for his cancer treatments.
Steve wrote a piece about his cancer for MEL last year and the magazine posted a tribute on Twitter
Family: The actor is survived by his wife Carrigan, their son Jacob Randall Levy, his parents, Irwin and Dorothy Levy, sisters, Lauren Levy Brodie and Jill Levy Sorota and other friends and family members
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