Alex Duong, the actor and comedian best known for his appearances on Blue Bloods, has died following a year-long battle with a rare and aggressive cancer.
He was 42.
His friend Hilarie Steele confirmed the news on Saturday, 28 March, via the GoFundMe set up to support his family, sharing that Duong died at St John’s Hospital in Santa Monica surrounded by loved ones after going into septic shock the night before.
“He was comfortable and thankfully out of pain,” Steele wrote. “He was alert enough to say goodbye to his little girl, whom he has treasured every moment since the day she was born.”
Duong is survived by his wife Christina and their five-year-old daughter Everest.
“We are devastated, but so grateful for the support, prayers and generosity you have all shown during this unimaginable time,” Steele added.
Duong had been diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer affecting soft tissue, in early 2025, after his manager noticed his eye appeared severely swollen and discoloured.
Doctors discovered a malignant tumour blocking blood flow to his optic nerve, and he lost vision in his left eye completely.
The tumours were described as “extremely aggressive.” Over the following year, he endured chemotherapy and radiation therapy while managing what he described as “excruciating back pain,” and was later hospitalised again in March as tumours in his spine had “taken a heavy toll on his body.”
As his condition worsened, the tumours pushed on his brain and caused him to begin having seizures.
Throughout his illness, Christina worked full-time while caring for both Duong and Everest, with Steele noting that “the emotional and physical weight of everything happening is enormous.”
The comedian himself spoke with characteristic warmth about the support he received from the comedy community during treatment.
“Comedians always have each other’s backs when times are s—,” he told the Los Angeles Times.
“We know how hard it is to pine and struggle and scrape by in this lifestyle, just so we can do these jokes and keep improving. It’s a beautiful thing to see in this world; it really is.”
That community showed up for him.
Last August, comedians including Ronny Chieng, Atsuko Okatsuka and Andrea Jin headlined a benefit show at the Largo in Los Angeles titled, with characteristic dark humour, “The Alex Duong Has Cancer In His Eye Comedy Benefit Show.”
A Los Angeles-based writer, comedian and actor since 2009 as a SAG-AFTRA member, Duong’s screen credits included Dexter, Everybody Hates Chris, 90210, The Young and the Restless, Pretty Little Liars and a three-season arc on Blue Bloods alongside Donnie Wahlberg, who had told him to prepare for an upcoming spinoff.
He also wrote for Netflix’s Historical Roasts and appeared on Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle.
He had been set to perform across 41 states in 2025, with several dates alongside Chieng, before his diagnosis changed everything.
