Tony Award-winning Broadway star Gavin Creel dies at 48

ByMARK KENNEDY AP logo
Monday, September 30, 2024 10:40PM
Broadway star Gavin Creel has died of cancer at age 48
Broadway star Gavin Creel dies at age 48 after battling with cancer.

NEW YORK -- Gavin Creel, a Broadway veteran who won a Tony Award for "Hello, Dolly!" and nominations for "Hair" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie," died Monday of a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 48.

Publicist Matt Polk said Creel died at his home in Manhattan of metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma.

Creel performed the role of Dr. Pomatter in Sara Bareilles' musical "Waitress" on Broadway in 2019 and on the West End in 2020. He won an Olivier Award for "The Book of Mormon."

He played Steven Kodaly in the 2016 production of "She Loves Me" at Studio 54. The following season, Creel was tapped for the role of Cornelius Hackl, opposite legends Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce, in the smash 2017 revival of "Hello, Dolly!" directed by Jerry Zaks.

He also played the singing waiter Bill in the films "Eloise at the Plaza" and "Eloise at Christmastime" alongside Julie Andrews. In 2021, he was cast in Ryan Murphy's miniseries "American Horror Stories" opposite Matt Bomer. His 2022 solo concert was filmed for the premiere episode of PBS's "Stars Onstage at Westport Country Playhouse."

He is survived by his mother, Nancy Clemens Creel, and father, James William Creel; his sisters, Heather Elise Creel and Allyson Jo Creel; and his partner, Alex Temple Ward.

Gavin Creel arrives at the 71st annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York
Gavin Creel arrives at the 71st annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York
Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

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