‘The Witches’ Star Vincent Marzello Dies at 68

Actor Vincent Marzello, best known for his roles in “The Witches,” “Superman” and “The Spy Who Loved Me,” died on Tuesday. He was 68.

Marzello’s wife, “Notting Hill” actor Lorelei King, tweeted the news.

“The love of my life, my darling husband Vincent Marzello, died this morning,” she wrote. “To those who knew him, I am sorry to post the news rather than contact you personally, but I am overwhelmed. My heart is broken.”

Marzello most recently lent his voice to the 2017 TV series “The Magical Music Box.” He was a regular on the animated show “Bob the Builder” from 2000 through 2016.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Marzello lived with King in London. He made his acting debut in 1976 in an episode of the TV series “The Brothers.” He has appeared in two James Bond movies, “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Never Say Never Again.” Marzello is best remembered for playing Luke’s father in Nicolas Roeg’s 1990 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The Witches.”

In 2009, while being treated for cancer, Marzello was diagnosed with dementia. In February, in a blog written for Dementia U.K. on World Cancer Day, King wrote, “In 2009, I never imagined that I would see an upside to my husband’s diagnosis of cancer — but I am grateful that it ultimately led to the diagnosis of his young-onset dementia.”

“But during his cancer treatment, medical professionals were finally observing him very closely and it was clear to them that there was something wrong. ‘How long has he had dementia?’ they asked — the first time anyone had said that to me — and, as horrifying as it was to hear, it brought a kind of relief, because we had finally named it.”

“We postponed formal diagnosis, because first we had to put out the fire that was right in front of us: the cancer,” King wrote. “This involved surgery, a catastrophic complication, more surgeries, months of chemotherapy — a process difficult enough to go through, made even more difficult by the dementia.”