Mark York, best known for his role as Billy Merchant in "The Office," has died at 55.
The actor, who has been a paraplegic since 1988, passed away in the early hours of May 19 at Miami Valley Hospital in Ohio following a brief and unexpected illness, according to Kreitzer Funeral Home.
News of his death saw social media flooded with tributes. Among those honoring his memory were co-stars Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight on the comedy series, and Jenna Fischer, who played Pam.
"He was a terrific human, a positive force and a dynamic actor. You will be missed," Wilson tweeted.
"Mark was a lovely man and a pleasure to work with. Very funny every time. Much love to his family," added Fischer.
Before kickstarting his acting career, York graduated from Anderson University in Indiana with degrees in psychology, sociology, and social work, the New York Post reported. He did some print modeling but decided to head off to California to pursue acting. After appearing in commercials for State Farm, Verizon, and AARP, he landed roles in dozens of shows including "CSI: New York," "6 Feet Under," as well as Steven Spielberg's "Artificial Intelligence," according to his official website. He appeared in "The Office" from Seasons 2 through 5.
More recently, York pursued a career as an inventor.
"He had such an outgoing, uplifting, positive attitude and personality. He always tried to look at what he could accomplish and do, not what he couldn’t do," his obit reads. "He had experienced many travel opportunities and many dreams for the future. In the past several years, he had been working as an inventor, and had obtained two patents for his inventions."
Throughout the years, York has also advocated for stem cell research to assist people living with spinal cord injuries. He served as the Southern California representative for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research Advancement and was able to secure a meeting in 2009 with then-President Barack Obama's special assistant for disability policy, Kareem Dale.
"Basically, Kareem asked, ‘What are you guys about?’ and we told him," York told People in 2010. "We need to support efforts for a cure to reduce the other monster number," he said, explaining that while the government spent $15 billion to $20 billion annually on care and supplies for spinal cord injury victims, less than $100 million of that was devoted to research.
"There are 1 million paralyzed people in the U.S.," York added. "We would be helped, but this research also could help millions more; people with Parkinson’s, brain injuries, and Alzheimer’s."
He is survived by his brother Brian York, mother Becky York, and father Glenn York.
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Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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