The tragic death of actor Chris Gauthier at age 48

The Canadian actor known for his supporting roles in a wide array of programs including ‘Smallville’, ‘Supernatural,’ and ‘Once Upon a Time,’ died on Feb. 23. He was just 48 years old.

What happened to the relatively young actor has not been made public, outside from his management telling media that he died from an “unspecified short illness," and that he "passed suddenly and unexpectedly." Hardly a month before his death he posted a photo of him and his wife at a Vancouver Canucks game looking very well.

Image: captaingauthier/Instagram

In a heartwrenching Facebook post, his talent rep Chad Colvin posted that he was “the literal textbook definition of a character actor. You may not have known his name but you knew his face, you knew his voice, and you knew that if he was onscreen, you were in for a h e l l u v a ride.”

One of his most notable roles was as the villain called The Toyman on the hit show ‘Smallville.’ The show’s fans rank him as one of the best villains ever.

Image: Smallville, The CW

Another one of his recurring roles was on the Sci-Fi channel show ‘Eureka.’ There, he played another fan favorite — a transdimensional cafe owner named Vincent.

Image: Eureka, Sci-Fi Channel

In the ABC show ‘Once Upon A Time,’ he played William Smee, based on a character from ‘Peter Pan.’

Though those were some of his most notable, Gauthier appeared in a whopping 100 projects across genres and media, including on shows like ‘Supernatural,’ ‘Dead Like Me,’ and ‘Harper’s Island' (pictured).

On his Instagram page, he identified as British and as a Cree, one of Canada’s indigenous peoples. His grandma was a victim of the St. Bruno’s residential school in northern Alberta. He often talked about indigenous injustices on social media and raised money for residential school survivors in a number of ways.

Image: captaingauthier/Instagram

Besides his career and activism, Gauthier was definitely a family man, as seen by all the love he offered to his wife and kids on social media.

Image: captaingauthier/Instagram

As seen in the tributes coming in from his acting colleagues and management, Gauthier was also a solid individual who will be deeply missed by those around him. “Brother...I am going to miss you so much more than you'll ever imagine. I wish we could have had a bit more time together and that you understood the difference you made, not just in my life, but all those you touched. This world is a bit smaller and colder now without you in it,” said talent manager Colvin.

Image: captaingauthier/Instagram