British actor Tim Roth (left) walks by his son Michael Cormac Roth at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on July 11, 2021. Photo: TNS
Cormac Roth, the son of Rob Roy and The Incredible Hulk star Tim Roth, has died at age 25 following “a courageous battle” with a rare cancer, his family said Monday (Oct 31).
The musician died Oct 16 after a yearlong battle with choriocarcinoma, a germ cell cancer with which he was diagnosed in November.
“On Sunday the 16th of October, we lost our beautiful boy Cormac after a courageous battle with cancer,” his family said in a statement provided to The LA Times.
“He died peacefully in the arms of his family who loved and adored him. He fought with incredible bravery for the past year, and maintained his wicked wit and humour to the very end.”
The Bennington College graduate “was an exceptionally gifted and extraordinary musician whose passion and love for making music stretched back to when his guitar was bigger than he was,” his family said.
Roth was a guitarist, composer and producer “wise beyond his years” and his career “was just beginning to flourish,” the statement said.
“He was a wild and electric ball of energy and his spirit was filled with light and goodness,” it continued. “As wild as he was, Cormac was also the embodiment of kindness. A gentle soul who brought so much happiness and hope to those around him.”
Cormac Roth shared his cancer diagnosis in an Instagram post over the summer, revealing that he underwent chemotherapy, high-dose chemo, medication, transplants, transfusions and surgeries, but the disease “managed to stay many steps ahead of me no matter what I throw at it”.
“It has taken away half of my hearing, 60 pounds of weight, my confidence, and will continue its murderous path until I can manage to stop it some how, and kill it,” he said.
“But it hasn’t taken away my will to survive, or my love of making music. It hasn’t taken me down yet. If you or someone you love is effected by cancer, please feel free to reach out for it is an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything else. Love to you all please make sure to do the things that you love. Life is short. It is chaos. And you never know when it’s going to be you.”
His family’s announcement also shared their grief over losing the young musician and praised him.
“The grief comes in waves, as do the tears and laughter, when we think of that beautiful boy across the 25 years and 10 months that we knew him. An irrepressible and joyful and wild and wonderful child. Only recently a man.
“We love him. We will carry him with us wherever we go. In Cormac’s words: ‘Make sure you do the things you love.’”
The musician is survived by his parents, Tim and Nikki Roth, and brother, Hunter Roth.
Tim Roth, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 1995 film Rob Roy, also starred in Pulp Fiction and Twin Peaks. He recently reprised his role as Emil Blonsky/Abomination from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk in the Disney+ legal comedy She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
