Love By no means Dies fame actor Ben Lewis dies at 46

Ben Lewis, acknowledged primarily for his half in Love By no means Dies, has handed away at 46 after a two-year wrestle with bowel most cancers. His passing was verified on October 6, 2025, in Sydney, amidst household. The announcement got here from his shut good friend and TV presenter Todd Woodbridge, who honored him on Instagram, referring to him as,

“one of many nice people.”

Born in London on September 28, 1979, and introduced up in Australia, Ben Lewis hailed from a household profoundly concerned in music and theater. His father, Michael Lewis, is an opera vocalist, and his mom, Patricia Value, was an opera artist and finally head of vocal research on the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

His sibling, Alexander Lewis, is likewise an opera singer. Ben went to Newington School and subsequently studied on the College of Sydney earlier than specializing in performing as a profession. He studied on the Royal School of Music in London on a Lend Lease scholarship and subsequently at WAAPA, the place he met his partner, actress Melle Stewart.

Lewis rose to prominence as The Phantom in Love By no means Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. The 2011 Australian manufacturing, filmed by Common Photos, introduced him worldwide recognition and led to his return as The Phantom within the West Finish from 2017 to 2018.

His stage credit included Urinetown, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Spamalot, A Little Night time Music, Forbidden Broadway, Candide, Firm, and The Bodyguard. He additionally appeared in McLeod’s Daughters and EastEnders.

Ben Lewis and his legacy in musical theatre

Lewis’s profession prolonged throughout twenty years and demonstrated his versatility as each a singer and an actor. In 2012, he obtained the Judith Johnson Award for Finest Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical on the Sydney Theatre Awards for Love By no means Dies and was nominated for a Helpmann Award. Along with performing, he gained recognition for guiding rising artists and remaining engaged within the theatre group regardless of his prognosis in 2024.

After his spouse, Melle Stewart, experienced a stroke in 2021 attributable to a uncommon vaccine-related situation, Lewis took on the position of her full-time caregiver. Associates and coworkers often talked about his calm demeanor and steadfastness throughout her therapeutic, portraying their bond as considered one of shared help and profound affection.

Tributes pour in for Ben Lewis

Tributes poured in from throughout the theatre world. Todd Woodbridge shared reminiscences of their friendship on Instagram, whereas Andrew Lloyd Webber posted on Instagram, praising Lewis’s

“big private success within the position”

to The Phantom of the Opera. Lewis’s brother, Alexander, launched a GoFundMe marketing campaign in 2024 to assist cowl his medical treatment, which raised over $180,000. Regardless of intensive care, the sickness grew to become incurable.

Ben Lewis handed away peacefully along with his spouse by his aspect, confirmed by his sister-in-law Christina O’Neill. He’s survived by his spouse Melle, his mother and father Michael Lewis and Patricia Value, and his brother Alexander. The household has requested for privacy as they mourn.