Chris Gauthier

Mr. Gauthier appeared in dozens of television shows and films, including “Freddy vs. Jason” and “Watchmen.”Chris Gauthier, a prolific actor known for his roles in the television shows “Once Upon a Time” and “Eureka,” died on Friday. He was 48.Tristar Appearances/Event Horizon Talent, which represented Mr. Gauthier, said in a statement that he died “after a brief illness.” His representatives did not say where he died.Mr. Gauthier, who was born in Britain and grew up in Canada, had roles in more than 20 movies, including “Freddy vs. Jason” in 2003 and “Watchmen” in 2009. He also appeared in dozens of television shows, including “Smallville,” “Charmed” and “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” according to IMDb, and in several short films.He was best known for playing William Smee in “Once Upon A Time,” a series that blended real life and fantasy in the fictional town of Storybrooke, Maine, where storybook characters live, trapped by an evil queen. Mr. Gauthier appeared in 14 episodes as Smee, who is based on the “Peter Pan” character Mr. Smee, Captain Hook’s first mate.Mr. Gauthier also played Vincent, a cafe owner, on the science fiction TV series “Eureka.” He appeared in 67 episodes of that show, from the pilot episode and through Season 5, according to IMDb.In an interview in 2021, Mr. Gauthier said that he started acting in school plays and that he acted in amateur and professional theater during high school.“I was always a ham, trying to be a funny guy,” he said.Chris Gauthier was born on Jan. 27, 1976, in Luton, England. He said in an interview in 2020 that he moved to Canada when he was 5 and grew up in a small town in British Columbia.“There wasn’t a lot going on there in terms of film and television,” he said. “So for me, it was about just the love of acting. It wasn’t about money. It wasn’t about anything but the sheer love of acting.”His acting career onscreen began in 2000, when he appeared in an episode of the TV series “Cold Squad.” His first two film credits were in 2002 for small roles in “40 Days and 40 Nights” and “Insomnia.”His television roles were largely limited to appearances in one or a few episodes until “Eureka” premiered in 2006. The show takes place in the fictional Pacific Northwest town of Eureka, where many of the world’s brightest minds live in an odd collective that produces technological inventions the rest of the world does not know about.Among his more recent credits, Mr. Gauthier had appeared in seven episodes of the western drama “Joe Pickett.”Information about his survivors was not immediately available.He said in the 2021 interview, his partner encouraged him to move to Vancouver to pursue an acting career in television and film.“I wasn’t super-duper motivated because I was happy doing plays,” he said of the move. “But I was like ‘OK,’ and it worked out.” More