Mark York, ‘Office’ Actor, Dies at age 55


An Ohio native, who promoted high visibility on the screen of people with disabilities,
appeared in the early days of the NBC sitcom as Billy Merchant.

Mark York, ‘Office’ Actor, Dies at age 55
Mark York, ‘Office’ Actor, Dies at age 55


Mark York, the actor best known for starring Billy Merchant on the NBC sitcom The Office, died last week in Dayton, Ohio. He was 55 years old.


His death was confirmed by the Montgomery County investigating office, which said on Tuesday he died at the hospital due to natural causes. Mr York's family said at the funeral that he had died after a short and unexpected illness.


Mr. York appeared in four episodes of The Office from 2006 to 2009 as the architect of the office park where Dunder Mifflin, a paper-based paper company in the center of the series, made his home. His character, Billy Merchant, who was as disabled as Mr. York, was introduced for the second season when Michael Scott, a rebellious branch manager played by Steve Carell, brought him into office at a conference on disability awareness.


In the scene, Mr. York's character skillfully answers Michael's unfamiliar questions about his use of a wheelchair. But when Michael tries to measure you by burning a foot on George Foreman's grill, Billy interrupts: You know, Michael?


"The books I find about the actor are excellent," Mr York told People magazine in 2010, saying that one fan wrote that he was shedding light on how stupid office politics is for disabled employees who are just trying to do their jobs.


Making the wheelchair users visible on the screen was one of the goals of Mr. York. He also supported efforts to find a cure for spinal cord injury, serving as Southern California's representative for SCI Research Advancement, a nonprofit foundation that serves to accelerate research.


He always came up with ideas for us, and eventually came up with a plan to contact White House, Will Ambler, the group's founder, said in an interview.


In January 2010, Mr. York, Mr. Ambler and one of the founding board members met in Washington with Kareem Dale, President Barack Obama's special aide on disability policy, and other government officials. Mr. York, a zealous traveler, set off from Ohio in his car, a red Dodge Magnum with hand-operated controls called Roxanne and more than 300,000 miles [300,000 km] in it.


For wheelchair users, driving is a way to gain freedom, and even Mr York has just set it at a very high level, says Ambler, adding, He’s free, comfortable and can go anywhere he wants.


Although they did not receive the proposed changes, the party also pressured Mr. York had recently suggested that they re-come to the White House.


He worked on it until the end, said Mr Ambler.

Cast members from the Office shared their condolences on Social Media.


He was a terrifying, powerful and powerful actor, said Rainn Wilson, who played the role of Dwight Schrute.


Marcus A. York was born on November 27, 1965, in Ohio, and graduated (Arcanum High School). In 1988, a car accident left her paralyzed. Accident gave him the opportunity to rent a new life, according to biography on his website, and graduated from Anderson University in Indiana with a degree in psychology, sociology and social work. While still in college, friends encouraged Mr. York to continue modeling and acting, and later moved to California.


In addition to television commercials, Mr. York appeared in 8 Simple Rules shows and at CSI: NY. He also played an untrained role in the film 2001 A.I. Artificial intelligence.


According to his funeral certificate, he had worked for years as a composer and had obtained two patents.


Mr. York survived by his parents, Glenn and Becky York, and his three brothers, Brian, Jeff and David.