The death has been announced of Ewen MacIntosh, who was mostly known for playing Keith Bishop, AKA "Big Keith" in the UK version of The Office.
The news comes as a big loss for devotees of the original Office, who recite Keith's painfully awkward attempts at workplace conversation to this day.
The show centred around Ricky Gervais as David Brent, with the Tim (Martin Freeman) and Dawn (Lucy Davis) storyline providing the heart, while Mackenzie Crook shone as the infuriating "assistant to the manager" Gareth.
But Keith stood out from the array of background characters, providing some of the best lines in the series and truly capturing its mundane tone.
Keith's social awkwardness was a great mechanism for portraying just how depressing working in Wernham-Hogg was for the likes of Tim and Dawn.
"Boring isn't it?" he asks a disinterested Tim in the break room. "Just sitting in watching Peak Practice with your life." Leafing through a magazine, Tim half-agrees before Keith responds "not for me, I like it."
In another scene, Keith asks Dawn where she is going on holiday. "States," is the response, after which Keith questions "United States?"
#RIP Ewen MacIntosh, forever immortalised as Big Keith in The Office. 🥚 pic.twitter.com/jetqW2SHAw
— Ste (@McLarenSte) February 21, 2024
MacIntosh's line delivery was second to none and that was captured perfectly in the scene in "Appraisals" in which he sits down with his manager Brent for a compulsory assessment of his work performance.
What follows is about three minutes of the most hilarious viewing, wrapped in a painful box-ticking scenario that most people who have worked in an office can relate to.
Ewen MacIntosh steals show in "Appraisals" scene
DB: "Under strengths, you've just put accounts."
KB: "Yeah."
DB: "... that's your job though, that's just..."
KB: "Mmm."
DB:"I was sort of looking for your skills within the job, is there anything else you could have put there?"
(Keith shrugs).
Brent, who is normally portrays himself as an amiable boss, able to bounce his personality off anyone in the workplace, is clearly irritated by Keith's disengagement.
DB: "Under weaknesses, you've put eczema."
The Office - Keith’s Appraisal Outtakespic.twitter.com/bS3PObLq17
— Best of British Comedy (@BestOfUKComedy) November 25, 2020
It goes on like this, with Brent eventually resorting to spelling the task out to a stony-faced Keith
DB: "To what extent do you feel you have the skills and knowledge to perform your job effectively? You just tick one of the boxes; not at all, to some extent, very much so, don't know. What would you tick?"
KB: "Don't know."
DB: "Okay... do you feel you have had adequate training to use your computer effectively?
KB: "What are the options?"
DB: "Same as... they're always the same. Not at all, to some extent, very much so, don't know.
KB: "Don't know."
DB: "Do you feel you are given the flexibility to decide how best to accomplish your goals?" (Brent appears increasingly frustrated). "Do you want the options again?"
KB: "Yeah."
DB: (List options again).
KB: "Don't know"
DB: "If don't know wasn't there...."
KB: "...what are the options?"
DB: (Raises voice) "NOT AT ALL, to some extent, very much so, don't know."
KB: "Very much so."
DB: "Do you remember what the question was?"
KB: "Nah."
Ewen MacIntosh tributes pour in
Chewing gum all the while, Keith's carefree demeanour is one which anyone could see themselves getting annoyed with, but from a distance it's impossible not to laugh.
The same could clearly be said of MacIntosh's co-stars, with a number of blooper reels going around today that show the actors cracking up while trying to record scenes with him.
Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant are among those paying tribute to MacIntosh today, with Gervais calling him a "very funny, very lovely and a true original."
Merchant posted: "So very sad to hear of Ewen MacIntosh’s passing. A lovely, uniquely funny man who played Keith in The Office. So hilarious when we asked him to improv a voicemail message that we wrote more dialogue for him, and he stole every scene he was in. A total one-off. A tragic loss. RIP."
Extremely sad news. The very funny and very lovely Ewen Macintosh, known to many as 'Big Keith' from The Office, has passed away. An absolute original. RIP. pic.twitter.com/Hhd3zkRVMs
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) February 21, 2024
So very sad to hear of Ewen MacIntosh’s passing. A lovely, uniquely funny man who played Keith in The Office. So hilarious when we asked him to improv a voicemail message that we wrote more dialogue for him, and he stole every scene he was in. A total one-off. A tragic loss. RIP pic.twitter.com/tEuaUoeWaC
— Stephen Merchant (@StephenMerchant) February 21, 2024
MacIntosh also appeared in the likes of Little Britain, Miranda and After Life but it's his role in the The Office for which he will be most fondly remembered and particularly that appraisal scene with Gervais.
Wherever he is now, let's hope he has all the scotch eggs he can eat.
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