Graham Fletcher-Cook, Actor and Brother of 'Rocketman' Director Dexter Fletcher, Dies at 55

He appeared in the Elton John biopic and in other films like 'Bugsy Malone,' 'Sid and Nancy' and 'Cry Freedom.'

Graham Fletcher-Cook, a British actor and older brother of Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher who appeared in such acclaimed films as Sid and Nancy, The French Lieutenant's Woman and Cry Freedom, has died. He was 55.

A spokesperson for the family told The Hollywood Reporter that Fletcher-Cook died recently following a battle with cancer.

Fletcher-Cook played a maitre d' in the Elton John biopic Rocketman, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and opened in theaters May 31, and had small roles in two other films helmed by his brother: Wild Bill (2011) and Eddie the Eagle (2015).

A filmmaker in his own right, he wrote and directed the black-and-white horror thriller Blood and Carpet (2015) — made for less than $4,000 — and directed and shot the 2018 documentary Shakespeare v Jack the Ripper.

Born in London on Nov. 3, 1963, Fletcher-Cook got his start in the business when his mother took him and "pretty much my entire extended family of brothers, cousins and aunts" to a drama club run by noted acting teacher Anna Scher in Islington, he recalled in a 2016 interview.

When Scher gained a reputation for molding gifted young actors, directors turned to her to cast their projects.

"By an extreme stroke of good fortune, the first movie set that both myself and my brother Dexter walked onto was [the 1976 Alan Parker crime comedy] Bugsy Malone," he said. "This was also an amazing opportunity to watch people at work on film sets and explore the myriad of different jobs that go toward making a film."

Fletcher-Cook then was cast with Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance (1979) and with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981).

He went on to work in Defense of the Realm (1985), starring Gabriel Byrne; Sid and Nancy (1986), starring Gary Oldham; Absolute Beginners (1985), which featured David Bowie; Cry Freedom (1987), directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Denzel Washington; and The Fool (1990), featuring Derek Jacobi.

Fletcher-Cook also appeared with Dexter in The Raggedy Rawney (1988) — their older brother, Steve Fletcher, was in that, too — and 60 Seconds to Die (2017).

Fletcher-Cook is survived by his wife, Jeanette.