Longtime Actor Dies After Years of Health Setbacks: Ray Sahetapy Was 68

Beloved Indonesian actor Ray Sahetapy, whose career spanned four decades and over 100 acting credits, has died.

Sahetapy passed away Tuesday evening at the age of 68 at a hospital in Central Jakarta following a number of health issues, his family confirmed, according to suara.com.

Considered to be one of the most popular actors from the heyday of Indonesian cinema, per his IMDb profile, Sahetapy, who was born in Indonesia in 1957, made his acting debut in the 1980 film Gadis (Girl). The actor met fellow actor and singer Dewi Yull while filming the movie, according to the Jakarta Globe. The pair married the following year and welcomed four children before divorcing in 2004.

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Sahetapy went on to appear in dozens of films throughout the ‘80s and early ‘90s, including Ponirah Terpidana (Convicted Ponirah) (1984), Secangkir Kopi Pahit (A Cup of Bitter Coffee) (1985), Opera Jakarta (1986), and Curi-curi kesempatan (1990) before stepping away from acting. He returned to the entertainment world in 2006 in Dunia Mereka.

Among his long roster of credits is an appearance 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. The actor appeared as an auctioneer in one of the film’s deleted scenes, which was later released on physical copies. His other acting credits include Three Sassy Sisters (2016), Fugitive (2017), Taufiq: Lelaki yang Menantang Badai (2019), and May the Devil Take You Too (2020), among numerous others.

Sahetapy continued to act in recent years, his final acting credit being in 2024’s Lokananta, even as his health began to decline. According to his brother, Charly Sahetapy, the actor suffered from diabetes and began experiencing complications related to the disease in 2017 and could no longer walk normally. He reportedly suffered a stroke in the summer of 2023, and later received emergency treatment after he almost died through choking. He also reportedly suffered issues with his lungs.

Charly said the late actor was again hospitalized on March 3 after he suffered an unspecified “complication.”

Throughout his career, Sahetapy received seven best actor nominations in Piala Citra, Indonesia’s equivalent to the Oscars. In 2013, he won best actor for his performance in The Raid at the Indonesian Movie Awards. He also took home a best supporting actor win at the Bandung Film Festival in 2015 for Siapa Di Atas Presiden.

Paying tribute to the late star, Minister of Culture Fadli Zon remembered him as “an actor who I think is very tough, and his acting is extraordinary, his achievements are also extraordinary,” per VOI.