Riders star Marcus Gilbert has passed away aged 67 following a cancer battle.
The actor, who was most famous for playing the swoonsome Rupert Campbell-Black in a 1993 TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Riders, passed away on Sunday.
A fan site for star, who was recently in a relationship with Lysette Anthony, shared the news on Facebook, in a stetement reading: ‘Today we have heard the very sad news that Marcus lost his battle against cancer on Sunday 11th January 2026…
‘We, along with his many fans worldwide, will mourn his loss, and remember the joy he gave us on screen, and in person. RIP Marcus.’
Tributes poured in for the star, whose wife of 28 years Homaa died in 2020, with fans writing: ‘Gone home, in the arms of the angels and Homaa… Oh my goodness. RIP Marcus… So so sad.. Such sad news. RIP… Rest in Peace’.
Marcus’ passing comes after he found love with his Riders co-star Lysette – hailed as the ‘face of the 1980s’ by photographer David Bailey – 33 years after they first kissed on-screen.
Riders star Marcus Gilbert has passed away aged 67 following a cancer battle (pictured with co-star Annabel Giles in the 1993 show)
Marcus is pictured with his partner and former co-star Lysette Anthony
Marcus is pictured in a steamy scene with co-star Cecile Paoli
At the time it was revealed that twice-divorced Lysette fell ‘head over heels’.
A friend of the actress, 59, whose last divorce was back in 2003, revealed at the time: ‘It’s a serious romance and has been going on for some time. They make an adorable couple. Lysette is head over heels with him.’
On social media Lysette posted pictures of the two of them together.
In May 2023 she intercut stills of them kissing in the 1990 film A Ghost In Monte Carlo – based on a 1951 Barbara Cartland potboiler which she starred in when she was 26 – with pictures of them together now.
She captioned the Instagram post: ‘My Forever Love.’
Marcus also starred in the likes of Rambo III and Doctor Who, and was considered for the role of James Bond in the late 1980s, but lost out to Timothy Dalton.
Throughout his career, he made over 50 commercials, including one for Lee Jeans called Mean Jeans, directed by Willi Patterson, which won the best cinema commercial award in 1986.
Tributes poured in for the star on the Facebook fan page
The handsome star was made famous for his role in the bonkbuster
