Julian McMahon, an actor known for playing the promiscuous plastic surgeon Dr. Christian Troy in the television show “Nip/Tuck,” as well as the egoistical evil scientist Dr. Victor Von Doom in two “Fantastic Four” movies, died on Wednesday in Florida. He was 56.
His death was confirmed by his wife, Kelly McMahon, who said in a statement that the cause was cancer.
Mr. McMahon began acting in Australian soap operas in the early 1990s and first found success in the United States on the NBC soap opera “Another World” in 1993.
After switching to prime-time television, his breakout role came when he played the half-human, half-demon Cole Turner on three seasons of the WB supernatural series “Charmed.”
Mr. McMahon achieved leading-man status when he began starring in the FX series “Nip/Tuck” in 2003.
His performance as Dr. Christian Troy, a self-destructive playboy, contrasted with Dr. Troy’s strait-laced best friend, Dr. Sean McNamara, played by Dylan Walsh.
On the show, which ran from 2003-10, the pair ran a plastic surgery practice, first in Miami and later in Los Angeles, and frequently sparred over the morality of their profession.
Mr. McMahon’s cocky, confident characterization allowed him to deliver some fan-favorite lines, such as, “She’s a troublemaker and her shoes are cheap.”
In 2005, Mr. McMahon went from playing a sex-addicted surgeon to portraying the maniacal Dr. Doom in the first of two “Fantastic Four” theatrical releases, the 2005 movie, “Fantastic Four,” and its 2007 sequel, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
Dr. Doom, a megalomaniacal villainous tycoon from the Marvel comic book series “Fantastic Four,” which was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuted in 1961, wears a threatening silver mask to hide his scarred face.
Julian McMahon was born on July 27, 1968, in Sydney, Australia, one of three children. His father was William McMahon, a former prime minister of Australia from 1971-72, and his mother, Lady Sonia McMahon, was a socialite and philanthropist.
Mr. McMahon’s survivors include his wife, Kelly, and a daughter, Madison. He married Brooke Burns, an American model and game show host, in 1999. They divorced in 2001. He and Dannii Minogue, an Australian singer, were married in 1994. They divorced a year later.
Mr. McMahon embraced his father’s legacy by playing the prime minister of Australia on the Netflix show “The Residence,” a comedy murder mystery set at the White House that debuted in March.
He also recently starred in the psychological thriller “The Surfer” with Nicolas Cage. Promoting the film at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, earlier this year was one of Mr. McMahon’s last public appearances.
Mr. McMahon returned to Australia several times throughout his career to star in films there.
Among them was the 2012 horror movie “Bait,” about a group of shoppers who are hunted by 12-foot great white sharks after being trapped at a grocery store that has been flooded by a tsunami.
He played the team leader Jess LaCroix in “FBI: Most Wanted” on CBS from 2020-22.
While he made a surprise exit from the show in March 2022, he paid tribute to the special agent on Instagram, writing that he and the character “did some good work, some might even say great, and we had some fun along the way.”
Hannah Ziegler is a general assignment reporter for The Times, covering topics such as crime, business, weather, pop culture and online trends.
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