David Warner

David Warner, a versatile British actor whose roles ranged from Shakespearean tragedies to sci-fi cult classics, has died. He was 80.

He later won an Emmy for his role as Roman politician Pomponius Falco in the 1981 TV miniseries “Masada.” Gregor Doran, the RSC’s artistic director emeritus, said Warner’s Hamlet, played as a tortured student, “seemed the epitome of 1960’s youth, and caught the radical spirit of a turbulent age.” Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Warner became a young star of the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing roles including King Henry VI and King Richard II. His 1965 performance in the title role of “Hamlet” for the company, directed by Peter Hall, was considered one of the finest of his generation.

He seemed destined for a major stage career but by the early 1970s was focused on film and TV. His credits included “TRON,” “Titanic” and hundreds more.

He had recurring roles in the series “Twin Peaks” in 1991 and “Wallander” and “Ripper Street” in this century, among others. It is said to have included one of Mr. Dylan’s earliest performances of “Blowin’ in the Wind.” “You see, I’m not a man of the theater,” he told The Times in 2001. His résumé included moderately prestigious roles — he won an Emmy Award for his performance in the 1981 mini-series “Masada,” about the Roman Empire’s siege of the Masada citadel in Israel — but also a stint as a Klingon chancellor in the “Star Trek” franchise. Instead, while Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Mr. Holm had become towering figures of the theater, Mr. Warner by that time had become known for seemingly never encountering a film or TV role he wouldn’t take. Some 35 years later, Emily Young, who directed him in the 2003 drama “Kiss of Life,” said basically the opposite. He had stopped doing stage work, he said, in part because of anxiety about performing live. “It was the young people’s Hamlet. David’s gentleness and passivity jibed absolutely with flower power and all that. In his first full decade in film and TV, the 1970s, he gathered more than two dozen credits; in the 1990s, more than 80. The production ran in repertory for two years. One fan was Mark Gardner of The Sunday Mercury of Birmingham, England. “So getting the girl is something that has never happened to me.

British actor David Warner, whose work ranged from Shakespearean tragedies to sci-fi cult classics, has died aged 80. Often cast as a villain, ...

Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Warner became a young star of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), playing roles including King Henry VI and King Richard II. He was often cast as a villain, playing roles in the psychological thriller Straw Dogs, horror classic The Omen and 1979 time-travel adventure Time After Time. - Warner was often cast as a villain, playing roles in thriller Straw Dogs and horror classic The Omen

David Warner, a versatile British actor whose roles ranged from Shakespearean tragedies to sci-fi cult classics, has died. He was 80.

He later won an Emmy for his role as Roman politician Pomponius Falco in the 1981 TV miniseries Masada. Warner's family said he would be remembered "as a kind-hearted, generous and compassionate man, partner and father whose legacy of extraordinary work has touched the lives of so many over the years." Warner returned to theatre in 2001 after almost three decades to play Andrew Undershaft in a Broadway revival of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara. In 2005 he starred in Shakespeare's King Lear at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and in 2007 returned to the RSC to play Shakespeare's comic buffoon Falstaff. He had a prolific career on film and TV in both Britain and the United States, and became beloved of sci-fi fans for roles in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits, computer movie Tron, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, and the Star Trek franchise, where he made several appearances in different roles. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Warner became a young star of the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing roles including King Henry VI and King Richard II. His 1965 performance in the title role of Hamlet for the company, directed by Peter Hall, was considered one of the finest of his generation. Often cast as a villain, Warner had roles in the 1971 psychological thriller Straw Dogs, the 1976 horror classic The Omen, the 1979 time-travel adventure Time After Time — he was Jack the Ripper — and the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, where he played the malicious valet Spicer Lovejoy.

The veteran British actor had a star-making turn playing Hamlet on stage at 24 and racked up more than 200 credits, including an array of villainous roles.

To his family, he was a loving husband and father. His childhood was like “wading through glue and treacle,” Warner explained during one interview. The range of his roles was as broad as his list of credits.

According to Variety, Warner died of a cancer-related illness in London. “Over the past 18 months he approached his diagnosis with a characteristic grace and ...

Also, Warner quite literally played the role of “Evil” in Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits.” My goodness, what a life and legacy.” … I wasn’t in ‘Harry Potter’ and I wasn’t in ‘Lord of the Rings,’” Warner told the AV Club in 2017.

Actor David Warner passed away at 80, leaving a legacy of great roles. One of his most notable roles in gaming was as a villain in Baldur's Gate.

He was incredibly powerful and ambivalent to the suffering of those in his path. Irenicus was so popular that developer Beamdog added a younger version of the character in an expansion called "Siege of Dragonspear" which was added to the Enhanced Edition of the original "Baldur's Gate." There was a sternness about Warner that lent a sense of gravitas to any scene he was in.

Warner's masterful turn as Gul Madred in "Chain of Command" works so well thanks to one crucial contrast.

Durbin’s the proud, furious performance Lemec makes Warner’s choices as Madred feel all the more cold, calculated, and chilling, and in turn that subdued sinister performance makes Lemec’s rage and arrogance all the more potent. It’s a fantastic performance in isolation, but what makes Gul Madred truly shine as a character is that he’s not the only Cardassian villain of the piece. But I was surprised in realising that it only hits hits its biggest heights thanks to as just as laudable performance in Durbin: two incredible actors setting the stage for what Cardassians could be, ready for them to ascend into Trek’s annals as one if its most fascinating societies just a few years later. Madred’s presence is graceful and terrifying—Warner’s voice for the character almost barely a whisper, precise and controlled as he completely pulls Picard’s strings over and over. “Chain of Command” sits as a two-parter in the middle of The Next Generation’s sixth season. Picard is nearly broken by Warner’s Madred, who turns in a truly fascinating performance that catapults him into the top tier of TNG’s best guest stars.

David Warner, who played Baldur's Gate 2 villain Jon Irenicus, has died at the age of 80. Born in Manchester in 1941, W…

Become a supporter of Eurogamer and you can view the site completely ad-free, as well as gaining exclusive access to articles, podcasts and conversations that will bring you closer to the team, the stories, and the games we all love. We want to make Eurogamer better, and that means better for our readers - not for algorithms. In the world of video games, Warner portrayed Baldur's Gate villain Jon Irenicus twice, reprising the role for 2016's new expansion to the series Siege of Dragonspear.

Warner, who has died aged 80, was a Shakespearian actor who came to specialise in dastardly villainy in everything from Tron to Titanic.

He also reconquered the stage and scored small-screen hits like Conviction (2004). Yet, he was most pleased by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), as it meant he could look his daughter’s friends in the face. But it was his scarf-wearing student prince in Peter Hall’s 1965 staging of Hamlet that made his name, as he encapsulated baby-boomer disillusion with the older generation. His versatility also meant that he could play different roles within the same franchise. With his imposing presence and disarming intensity, Warner came to specialise in villainy. This countercultural edginess led to Warner being recruited for Karel Reisz’s Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), in which his proletarian artist hares across London in a bid to dissuade upper-class wife Vanessa Redgrave from divorcing him. David Warner, who has died at the age of 80, produced memorable performances on stage, television and film.