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Iconic veteran British actor David Warner has died aged 80, with the BBC reporting that a “cancer-related illness” was the cause of death.
Warner’s varied career spanned film, television, radio and stage where he began working first for the Royal Court Theatre, followed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
From there, he became a reliable staple on screen playing both villains and romantic leads after breaking through with a BAFTA-nominated performance for ‘Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment’. Although he is good at playing bad, he was known to be very warm and compassionate off screen.
Fans of the genre will be quite familiar with his long list of credits. He was the photographer in “The Omen”, Evil in Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits”, MCP & Sark in “TRON”, Jack the Ripper in “Time After Time”, Dr. Wrenn in “In the Mouth of Madness” enforcer Spicer Lovejoy in James Cameron’s “Titanic” and Admiral Tolwyn in the movie “Wing Commander”.
Other film credits “Tom Jones,” “Straw Dogs,” “The Thirty Nine Steps,” “The French Lieutenant’s Wife,” “The Man With Two Brains,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze” ” Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, “Scream 2”, Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes”, “Black Death” and “Before I Sleep”.
Warner was a recurring player on “Star Trek”: he had key roles as diplomat St. John Talbot in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” and then the major role of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.” He returned for the two-part “Chain of Command” in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which was essentially a two-person chamber piece between a Cardassian torturer (Warner) and the imprisoned Picard (Patrick Stewart), resulting in one of the most acclaimed episodes of the franchise.
His television work was also extensive, where he will always be remembered as the voice of Ra’s al Ghul in “Batman: The Animated Series”. He won an Emmy for his work on “Masada” and was nominated for his work on “Holocaust.” He was the senile father in Kenneth Branagh’s “Wallander,” the cruel Captain James Sawyer in “Hornblower,” the sinister Thomas Eckhardt in “Twin Peaks,” the voice of Jor-El in “Superman: The Animated Series,” the Archmag in “Gargoyles,” Dr. Frankenstein in “Toonsylvania,” and many more.
In the realm of audio drama, he is known to “Doctor Who” fans as the voice of the alternate “Unbound” incarnation of The Doctor in various adventures. He also lent his voice to video games such as “Star Wars: Force Commander,” “Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn,” “Descent 3” and the original “Fallout.”
Source: The Guardian