Nicol Williamson, the British actor best known for his role as the wizard Merlin in “Excalibur”, died of cancer.

According to New York Daily News, his son Luke said the actor died Dec. 16 at the age of 75 in Amsterdam, where he had lived for more than two decades.

Williamson had dozens of film credits to his name but won more plaudits for his stage acting. Playwright John Osborne once described him as “the greatest actor since Marlon Brando.”

He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1966 for his role in Osborne's “Inadmissible Evidence” and again in 1974 for Anton Chekhov's “Uncle Vanya.” He also was nominated three times for acting honors at the British Academy Film Awards, Britain's equivalent of the Oscars.

In films, he was an acclaimed wizard Merlin in John Boorman's “Excalibur” and also played Little John to Sean Connery's Robin Hood and Audrey Hepburn's Lady Marian in the 1976 movie “Robin and Marian.”

Williamson was born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, the son of a factory owner. He left school at 16 to begin work in his father's factory and later attended the Birmingham School of Speech & Drama.