Ronald Pickup, the actor best known for his role in <em>The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel</em>, has died at the age of 80. The British star died peacefully and surrounded by his family after battling a long illness, his agent Jean Diamond confirmed on Thursday. The actor had a career spanning more than five decades, but found international fame for his portrayal of bachelor Norman Cousins in the 2012 hit film <em>The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.</em> He was nominated, alongside fellow cast members Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Dev Patel, for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. He reprised his role as the fun-loving lothario in the 2015 sequel, <em>The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.</em> Pickup also starred in <em>The Crown</em>, playing the archbishop of Canterbury in the first season of the hit Netflix drama. In 2017, he portrayed Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in the film <em>Darkest Hour</em>, a Best Picture Oscar nominee. Born on June 7 1940, in Chester, England, Pickup had a long career on stage and screen. His first big break was in 1964 when he appeared in an episode of <em>Doctor Who. </em> Film credits include <em>The Thirty Nine Steps</em> (1978), <em>Never Say Never Again</em> (1983), <em>A Time to Dance</em> (1992), <em>Lolita</em> (1997) and <em>Danny the Champion of the World (1989). </em> He was also the voice of Aslan the lion in the BBC's adaptation of <em>The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe</em> (1988), and <em>The Chronicles of Narnia (1990),</em> based on the books by C. S. Lewis.