Victoria actor Adrian Schiller dies aged 60

The Last Kingdom actor Adrian Schiller has died "suddenly" aged 60, his agent has confirmed.

The British actor was best known for playing rich ealdorman Aethelhelm in Netflix historical series The Last Kingdom and steward Cornelius Penge in ITV royal drama Victoria.

In a statement, his agent said: "His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details are yet available.

"He has died far too soon, and we are devastated by the loss."

Schiller had most recently appeared in the theatre production The Lehman Trilogy in Australia, and his agent said the actor had been "looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco".

Paying tribute on social media, the outgoing director of the National Theatre, Rufus Norris, said he was "deeply saddened and shocked" by the loss of a company member.

"Adrian was a wonderful actor, and the National Theatre had the pleasure of working with him throughout the breadth of his career," he said.

"His recent performance as Henry Lehman in the Australian premiere of The Lehman Trilogy was superb and his presence within the company will be greatly missed."

Last year, Schiller was among the cast in World War Two play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the theatre said it was "devastated to hear of the passing of the incredible actor".

Across his career he also appeared on stage in Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, The Veil, The Captain of Kopenick, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

Schiller was also known for his appearance in two episodes of the BBC Caribbean-set detective series Death In Paradise as Pasha Verdinikov.

He appeared in historical dramas The Musketeers on the BBC and The Devil's Whore on Channel 4.

He was seen on screen in January as a criminal, named Drake Underwood, in an episode of BBC detective series Father Brown about a heist gone wrong.