It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of this beloved actor.
Born into a family of classically trained opera singers in London, Ben studied vocal performance at the Royal College of Music in London and the Academy of Performing Arts in Western Australia. Her professional beginnings included performances in Sydney at Urinetown, A Little Night Music and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
In 2011, Lewis starred in the original Australian production of Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, and reprised the iconic role of The Phantom in London’s West End in 2017 and 2018.
He won the Judith Johnson Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards for Love Never Dies, a production later filmed by Universal.
His wife’s primary caregiver
What makes Ben’s story even more heartbreaking is that he was also the primary caregiver for his beloved wife, Australian actress Melle Stewart. In 2021, at just 40 years old, Melle suffered a life-changing stroke from the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
This devastating event led Melle to spend almost nine months in the hospital. From that day on, Ben accompanied her through every step of the rehabilitation process.
