COMEDIAN Steve Bean has died from a rare form of nose cancer aged 58.

The Ray Donovan star passed away on January 21, according to Variety, after a long battle with the disease.

The actor had been diagnosed with Sino-Nasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, which resulted in him losing his nose.

The Shameless star was born Stephen Joseph Levy in Lynn, Massachusetts in April 1960.

He was raised in Providence, Rhode Island and started performing when attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

In 1980 the comedian teamed up with Chris Zito to form a duo known as Zito & Bean, who became a hit on the Boston comedy circuit.

The pair had their own show for three years at the city's Play It Again Sam's before Steve left the duo to move to Los Angeles.

He soon found work writing for The Tim Conway Show and Dot Comedy and also joined the well-known Groundlings Improv Group.

Steve also found steady work as an actor, making his debut as a reporter in popular sitcom Cheers.

He also landing guest starring roles in Murder She Wrote and Quantum Leap before making a move into film, acting in feature-length titles Vital Signs and Shakes the Clown.

Steve also bagged TV credits in 3rd Rock From The Sun, Veronica Mars and Justified.

After landing spots in Ray Donovan and Shameless, Steve was diagnosed with his rare form of nose cancer.

His wife, Caroline Carrigan, told DailyMail.com that her husband started getting chronic nosebleeds in the autumn of 2016, which started to get "really bad" before Christmas.

She explained: "The diagnosis was deviated septum/polyps/sinusitis.

"The tumor, unbeknownst to us, was already pushing his nose literally out of joint and he was starting to look like a boxer. And then like something from Avatar."

She admitted she guessed her husband was battling cancer after noticing he was also rapidly losing weight - but didn't expect doctors to remove Steve's nose entirely.

Steve is also survived by the couple's son Jacob Randall Levy.