On Monday the sad news arrived about the star of the big stage, taken from us far too young and with so much more to give.

The New York Times reports that his death was caused by a metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma, a type of nerve cancer which the actor learned he had in July. His death was confirmed by his partner, Alex Temple Ward, via publicist Matt Polk.

He won the award playing a Yonkers feed store clerk in “Hello, Dolly!” and was also nominated for roles in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Hair.”