Gavin Creel’s untimely death at age 48 not only shocked the theater world as a whole, but also his closest co-stars and famous friends.
The Tony-winning actor’s death from metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma was confirmed by his partner Alex Temple Ward on Monday, mere months after Creel was diagnosed with the rare and aggressive cancer in July.
Since Creel’s Broadway debut in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in 2002, he went on to star in “La Cage aux Folles,” “Hair,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “She Loves Me,” “Waitress” and “Into the Woods,” also playing with other professional theater companies. Following news of his death, his co-stars were quick to pay tribute to the late actor, calling him one of their most beloved peers both on and off the stage.
Sutton Foster starred opposite Creel in “Millie” and shared a pic of the pair on Instagram, captioning it, “My sweet friend. I will love you forever.”
Their co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph shared some special memories in her own post, writing, “My heart is broken hearing the news about Gavin Creel. I’m in shock. Gavin was such a beautiful soul and such a vibrant spirit both on and off the stage. I’ll always remember our time together when he played my ‘son’ on ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie,’ where we shared so many laughs, so many moments.”
“I will never forget those days when we had matinees, Gavin would take [Etienne Maurice] and [Ivy Coco Maurice] to lunch at Virgil’s in Times Square. He was so funny, so kind, and always made everyone around him feel special,” she continued. “Gavin, you were truly one of a kind. Bless you. I will miss you. I’m sending all my love to the Creel family during this time.”
Bette Middler, who co-starred in 2017’s “Hello, Dolly!” revival with Creel — which won him his Tony Award — wrote: “Beloved by the Broadway community, the radiant actor Gavin Creel has died from a rare form of cancer. He played Cornelius Hackl to my Dolly in ‘Hello Dolly’ and I looked forward to working with him every single night. He was fantastic. I can’t believe he’s gone. What a loss.”
Another of Creel’s “Dolly!” co-stars, Beanie Feldstein, shared an emotional message: “Gavin is the person that after you’ve had the hardest day in rehearsal grabs your hand and says, ‘I’m walking you home.’ Gavin is the person who always picks up the phone, lights up the room, brings people together. How lucky we all are to love him so. Now, like he taught us, we have to walk on through. But f–k I don’t know how. I love you, my Gav.”
Off the stage, Creel was also well known for both “Eloise” movies. His co-star Sofia Vassilieva, who played the titular role, shared a short but sweet message in his honor, writing, “As quickly as the heart bursts, it shatters.”
The late actor was also remembered fondly by fellow artists including Josh Gad, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hannah Waddingham, Idina Menzel, Ben Platt and Cynthia Erivo, to name just a few.
Creel is survived by Ward, pet dog Nina, parents Nancy Clemens Creel and James William Creel, older sisters Heather Creel and Allyson Creel and her partner Jennifer Kolb. Per the family, gifts in his memory can be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
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