Monday, 25 July 2022

David Warner 1941 - 2022

 
It has been announced today that the actor David Warner has passed away at the age of 80. He died yesterday from a cancer-related illness.
He only appeared in Doctor Who on the single occasion - as Russian scientist Professor Grisenko, in 2013's Cold War. Prior to that he had voiced the villain Lord Azlok in the animated adventure Dreamland.
His main connection with the series was through the Big Finish audio range. He portrayed an alternative version of the Third Doctor several times as well as guesting in a large number of other productions in a variety of roles, ranging from Sir Isaac Newton to Mycroft Holmes.
Star Trek fans will remember him from the fifth and sixth movies of the original franchise - The Final Frontier, in which he was a human ambassador, and The Undiscovered Country, in which he was the Klingon Chancellor. He also appeared in ST:TNG as a Cardassian interrogator.
Other genre roles included Tron, The Time Bandits, Avatar, Babylon 5, and the 2001 version on Planet of the Apes. A particular favourite of mine was Time After Time (1979), in which he played Jack the Ripper opposite Malcolm McDowell's HG Wells, transported to present day San Francisco.
He spent a large part of his career in the US, appearing in many TV shows and TV movies there.
A quick look at Wikipedia reveals 90 movies and 95 TV programmes, from 1962 onwards. Latterly some of these were voice work rather than on screen appearances.
And, of course, alongside this he also had a hugely successful stage career, on Broadway as well as with the RSC. 
RIP.

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