Details of Julian McMahon’s cancer revealed a week after his death aged 56

. AU edition

Julian McMahon at SXSW
Julian McMahon at SXSW in March. The Australian actor died of head and neck cancer on 2 July. Photograph: MJ Photos/Shutterstock

Charmed, Fantastic Four and Nip/Tuck actor’s cause of death was lung metastasis due to head and neck cancer

Julian McMahon’s cause of death has been revealed, a little over a week after the Australian actor died aged 56.

The Charmed, Fantastic Four and Nip/Tuck actor died on 2 July from lung metastasis as a result of head and neck metastatic cancer, according to a cremation approval report from the Pinellas county medical examiner’s office in Florida obtained by People magazine.

The manner of death was ruled as natural. McMahon’s remains have been cremated.

McMahon’s cancer diagnosis was made public by his widow, Kelly, when she announced his death on 4 July. She said that he “died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer”.

“Julian loved life,” she said. “He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible.”

Many of McMahon’s peers reacted with shock at the news last week. His Charmed co-stars Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs all paid tribute, with Milano writing that she was “heartbroken”, adding: “He was more than my TV husband. He was a dear friend.”

Nicolas Cage, his co-star in The Surfer, remembered McMahon as a “kind and intelligent man”.

McMahon, who also played the playboy plastic surgeon Dr Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck, was remembered by his co-stars Dylan Walsh and Joely Richardson.

Richardson called the news “shocking”, writing on Instagram: “He just seemed bigger and stronger than the rest of us.”

“I can’t believe it,” she wrote. “We worked together for many years, covering every possible storyline and then some. Julian could be hysterically funny, was hugely charismatic (drama swirled in his wake), and most of the female population fell for him as ‘Christian Troy’.”

McMahon’s Fantastic Four co-star Ioan Gruffudd called the news “terribly sad”, writing on Instagram: “Even though we played each other’s nemeses, there was always so much lightness and laughter working together. Every encounter with him was a joy. It was an honor to be Dr Richards to his Dr Doom. My heart goes out to his wife and family. God speed Julian.”