01 October 2023 , 11:45
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Actor Jake Abraham has died aged 56, just months after sharing a stark warning after "leaving it too late" to visit a doctor.
The Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star opened up about his cancer diagnosis only months ago, revealing that he had felt unwell for quite some time but had waited to get it checked out with the doctor. Jake continued to work until earlier this year - he was in pantomime 'The Scouse Jack and the Beanstalk' at the Royal Court, which ran until January. In February, he visited the GP.
Jake told the Liverpool Echo in July: "I was working but I wasn't feeling well. I was pushing through those spells when you don't feel yourself, you haven't got the energy and there are aches and pains.
"The costume for the play was enormous, I knew I wasn't well then but I'd not been well for so long. What made me go to the doctor and get a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test was that I passed blood in my urine. I got a test and ended up in the Royal. He said 'you've got cancer, I'm so, so sorry'. He said that I'd had it for years, maybe four years."
Jake was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which spread to the rest of his body and resulted in tumours on his spine and hips, and one removed from his bladder. He had been since receiving palliative care.
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Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star Jake Abraham has died aged 56He said at the time: "Doctors have told me it could be months, it could be years. It's frightening. It's scary, to be confronted with your own mortality is the most scary thing you'll ever go through. To prepare for that and be cognitive mentally, but knowing that's what's coming, it's tough."
Fans flocked to X - formerly Twitter - to pay tribute, with one writing: "Sad news tonight, hearing Liverpool actor Jake Abraham has passed away after his well documented battle with cancer. Everyone knows him from Lock Stock but there was so much more to Jake: from his @LivEveryPlay youth performances to powerful @Channel4 drama GBH. RIP."
While another commented: "So sad to hear of the passing of @jakeabraham1 one of L8's super talented actors Jake Abraham has passed away. For many of us growing up his humorous and deadpan acting style had us belly laughing. Deepest sympathy to all family and friends."
A third wrote: "Such sad news today. Jake Abraham, one of the city's best-loved actors, has died aged 56. Sending love to Jake's family, friends, and everyone @RoyalCourtLiv, where he took to the stage many times."
Speaking to the ECHO in the summer, Jake had been keen to encourage people to take tests. There's currently no national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK, but a PSA test can find early signs of cancer and allow for earlier treatment.
He said: "I think most men take the approach of 'oh, I'll get on with it'. Well I'm palliative now, I found out really late down the line and there's nothing they can do for me - I've just got it now and I've just got to wait for the day.
Jake Abraham with writer Alan Bleasdale (Liverpool Echo)"But that could be avoided if you just get a PSA test. I know people might be waiting in a line and there's 18 in the queue, but just stick with the queue. Everyone else goes 'oh I'm not waiting', so you end up there with the appointment."
Thinking ahead about the time he had left, the dad-of-two said that he just wanted to make some "happy memories". "All I want to do is the things I've always wanted to do - the bucket list," he said. "I want to go to Italy to see the architecture and history in Rome. I want to be with my grandkids. My dad died not long before I got cancer. He died of a stroke. I never thought that this young, I'd be talking about cancer."
"But what it does do is give you a focus on how important now is, how important each second is and how precious it is. That's what it's given me. You look at the grandkids and realise, I'm just so lucky in that sense. It gives you a perspective on that - I know I'm going to miss them."
Jake also had a simple message for people: "I was too late - please don't leave it too late. You could save yourself ten or twenty years with your children and your family - and that's the most priceless thing you've got."
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Born in Toxteth, before growing up in Kensington, the 56-year-old actor began his career in the 1980s, among what he called a "cauldron of talent" at The Everyman Youth Theatre. Since then, he has enjoyed a four-decade career on stage and screen - touring with the National Theatre and working with some of the biggest names in British drama, including fellow Liverpudlian.
However, he is probably best known for his role as Dean in gangster classic 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' - Guy Ritchie's 1998 debut starring Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones.
Jake leaves behind his wife, actress and singer Joanna Taylor, and their two children. RIP.