Raphael Coleman, 'Nanny McPhee' Child Star and Eco Activist, Dead at 25

Raphael Coleman
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

The Extinction Rebellion activist and former actor died on Friday after collapsing unexpectedly.

Raphael Coleman, a child actor and dedicated climate change activist, died on Friday. He was 25.

Coleman's mother, Liz Jensen, and step-father, Casten Jensen, confirmed the news on social media over the weekend, with heartfelt tributes.

"Rest in peace my beloved son Raphael Coleman, aka Iggy Fox. He died doing what he loved, working for the noblest cause of all. His family could not be prouder. Let’s celebrate all he achieved in his short life and cherish his legacy," his mother shared on Twitter.

Coleman died suddenly when he collapsed while out on a run. No cause of death has yet been released.

After appearing in the 2005 family comedy Nanny McPhee, alongside Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, Coleman went on to appear in two more films in 2009 -- It's Alive and The Fourth Kind. 

In his teen years, Coleman became involved in climate change activist movements, and eventually left his studies at the University of Manchester to dedicate himself full-time to the Extinction Rebellion movement.

"To die young. I guess there's nothing that makes you see death as unfair and meaningless as when a young person dies," Coleman's step-father wrote in a lengthy FaceBook tribute. "It's life itself that's sabotaged. It just happened to my wife, Liz, whose youngest son, Raph of only 25, died last Friday."

"He collapsed without prior health problems in the middle of a trip and could not be restored," he continued. "I got to know raph when he was six years old, and we were so close"

"When I think of Raph, I see something that will never die, a blunt of eternity, a light beam that lives forever in young people," he added, in part. "We believe that it is us, the older generations who have something to give the young people. We believe that we are the ones who pass the baton of life to them. But I think it's the other way around. The young people remind us why we're alive. They remind us of the purpose of life that this is the gift we must not [be] distracted until we have unpacked it."

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