‘Shameless’ Actor Steve Bean Levy Dead at 58

Actor and comedian Steven Levy, aka Steve Bean, died Jan. 21 at the age of 58, following a battle with cancer.

The actor is known for roles on television series including Shameless, Ray Donovan, Quantum Leap and more.

Levy was diagnosed with sino-squarmous cell carcinoma (nose cancer), one of the rarest forms of cancer in 2016. He chronicled his treatment experience in the essay “My Year Without A Nose” for Mel Magazine.

“If you’re keeping track at home, I’ve now lost my nose, my tear ducts, my upper palate and gums, all but four of my teeth, my appetite, my right cheekbone, much of my right jawbone, much of my right cheek, my eyebrows and moustache (chemo), the feeling in my upper lip (surgery), most of the motor control of the right side of my face (surgery) and some hearing in each ear (chemo),” he wrote in the column. “I also lost about 40 pounds, and worst of all, I lost my sense of humor.”

He added: “All of that physical stuff ain’t ever coming back. Luckily, my sense of humor came back about a month ago. Not a moment too soon either: The latest scans show yet another recurrence of the cancer. The doctors tell me I have nine to twelve months to live.”

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts and raised in providence, Rhode Island, Levy attended Carnegie Mellon University and got his start performing stand-up al Pittsburgh-area nightclubs, according to Variety.

In 1980, Levy started a duo act with comic Chris Zito when they started to be known as Zito and Bean. The duo gathered a small following in the Boston area at the time.

The group became popular headliners in the Boston comedy scene and enjoyed a three-year run with their own show at a popular club called Play It Again Sam’s.

A decade later, Levy split from the duo to move to Los Angeles, where he joined the Groundlings Improv Group and wrote for such shows as the Tim Conway Show and ABC’s Dot Comedy.

Levy later made the jump to screen acting, landing roles on Quantum Leap, Murder She Wrote, Married With Children, Monk, and the Bobcat Goldthwait comedy Shakes the Clown.

The actor is survived by his wife, Caroline Carrigan, son Jacob Randall Levy, parents Irwin and Dorothy Levy, sisters Lauren Levy Broady and her husband Todd and July Levy Sorota; nieces and nephews, Michael Miller, Allison Miller, Lindsey Sorota and Andrew Sorota and one great niece, Amelia Wilcox.

The family requested donations in his name be made to Cancer Support Community Pasadena at 76 E. Del Mar Blvd. #215, Pasadena, CA, 91105.