There are a few professions, like acting or studio art, where the competition is so intense that even extremely talented and hard-working people never get a break.
He was a smart, engaging, funny gentleman who never displayed personal or professional jealousy, who was working as hard and competently as ever up to last week.
And that last part is absolutely essential, that part about really workinghard in school, because an education has never been more important than it is today.