The Late Great David Warner

David Warner, who appeared in such films as Morgan A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), The Omen (1976), Time After Time (1979), and TRON (1982), died on July 24 2022 at the age of 80. He died of an illness related to lung cancer.

David Warner was born on July 29 1941 in Manchester. His father often changed jobs, so that David Warner spent time in a variety of towns as a child. It also meant that he did poorly in school. Eventually his parents separated and he did not see his mother again until she was dying David Warner trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

He made his professional debut in 1962 in  the Royal Court Theatre in January 1962 in a production of A Midsummer's Night Dream. That March, at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, he appeared in Much Ado About Nothing. In June 1962 he appeared Afore Night Come at the New Arts Theatre in London. It was in 1962 that he made his film debut in We Joined the Navy (1962). He made his television debut in an episode of BBC Sunday-Night Play in 1963. In the Sixties he appeared in the movies Tom Jones (1963), Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), The Deadly Affair (1967), The Bofor's Gun (1968). Work is a Four Letter Word (1968), The Fixer (1968), The Sea Gull (1968), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968), Michael Kohlhaas - Der Rebell (1969),  The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and A Perfect Friday (1970). On television he appeared in the mini-series The War of the Roses. He guest starred on the shows Z Cars, Armchair Theatre, and NBC Experiment in Television. In April 1963 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

In the Seventies David Warner appeared in the movies Straw Dogs (1972), A Doll's House (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974), Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974), The Old Curiosity Shop (1975), The Omen (1976), Providence (1977), Cross of Iron (1977), Age of Innocence (1977), Silver Bears (1977), The Disappearance (1977), The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), Nightwing (1979), The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979), Time After Time (1979), and The Island (1980). In the Seventies he appeared in the television mini-series Holocaust and Clouds of Glory. He appeared on the TV series Three Comedies in Marriage, and in the TV movies The Blue Hotel and S.O.S. Titanic.

In the Eighties David Warner appeared in the television mini-series Masada, Nancy Astor, Marco Polo, Charlie, and Hold the Back Page. He guest starred on the shows Remington Steele, Hart to Hart, Faerie Tale Theatre, Crossbow, Worlds Beyond, and Father Dowling Mysteries. He appeared in the TV movies Frankenstein, A Christmas Carol, Love's Labour Lost, Desperado, Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen, and The Secret Life of Ian Fleming. He appeared in the films  Time Bandit (1981), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), TRON (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), The Company of Wolves (1984), Summer Lightning (1984), My Best Friend is a Vampire (1987), Hanna's War (1988), Waxwork (1988), Mr. North (1988), Hostile Takeover (1988), Hansel and Gretel (1988), Pulse Pounders (1988), Keys to Freedom (1988), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Mortal Passions (1989), Grave Secrets (1989), Magdalene (1989), and Tripwire (1989).

In the Nineties he appeared in the movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Blue Tornado (1991), Drive (1991), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), The Lost World (1992), Return to the Lost World (1992), The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1992), L'oeil qui ment (1992), Spies, Inc. (1992), Necronomicon (1993), Piccolo grande amore (1993), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), Felony (1994), Tryst (1994), Inner Sanctum (1994), Loving Deadly (1994), Taking Liberty (1995), Ice Cream Man (1995), Final Equinox (1995), Luise knackt den Jackpot (1995), Naked Souls (1996), Seven Servants (1996), The Leading Man (1996), Money Talks (1997), Titanic (1997), Scream 2 (1997), The Last Leprechaun (1998), Wing Commander (1999), Shergar (1999), and Back to the Secret Garden (2000).

In the Nineties he was a regular voice on the animated TV shows The Legend of Prince Valiant, Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, Frekazoid!, Spider-Man, Toonsylvania, and Men in Black the Series. He was a guest voice on the animated shows Mighty Max, Iron Man, Captain Simian & The Space Monkeys, Superman, Batman Beyond, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He provided a guest voice on the sitcom Dinosaurs. He had a recurring role on Twin Peaks and Signs and Wonders. David Warner appeared in the mini-series Wild Palms and The Choir. He guest starred on the shows Tales from the Crypt; Star Trek: The Next Generation; Murder, She Wrote; The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.; Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; The Larry Sanders Show; Babylon 5; Perversions of Science; Roar; Total Recall 2070; The Outer Limits; The Hunger; The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, and Love & Money.

In the Naughts David Warner appeared in the movies Planet of the Apes (2001), The Little Unicorn (2001), Superstition (2001), The Code Conspiracy (2002), Kiss of Life (2003), Straight into Darkness (2004), Cortex (2004), Ladies in Lavender (2004), Cyber Wars (2004), The League of Gentleman's Apocalypse (2005), and Black Death (2010). On television he appeared in the mini-series Conviction and The Battle for Rome, and provided a voice for the animated Doctor Who miniseries Doctor Who: Dreamland. He appeared in the TV movies Hornblower: Mutiny, Hornblower Retribution The Investigation, Hearts of Gold, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2003), Sweeney Todd, Mr. Loveday's Little Outing, Hogfather, Perfect Parents, and Albert's Memorial. He guest starred on the shows Agatha Christie's Marple, Sensitive Skin, Wild at Heart, and Graceless. He was a guest voice on the animated shows Grim & Evil; and What's New, Scooby-Doo?.

In the Teens he appeared in the movies A Thousand Kisses Deep (2011), Before I Sleep (2013), You, Me and Him (2017), and Mary Poppins Returns (2018). He appeared in the mini-series The Secret of Crickley Hall. He had recurring roles on Mad Dogs, Wallander,  and Ripper Street. He guest starred on the shows Midsomer Murders, Doctor Who, Penny Dreadful, Inside No. 9, Lewis, and The Alienist. He had a recurring role on the animated series The Amazing World of Gumball. He was a guest voice on Teen Titans Go!.

David Warner was an actor of immense talent and he was extremely versatile. As a young man he played the protagonist of the title in Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, a mentally disturbed, failed, working class, London artist. It was also early in his career that he played Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Over the years he played a diverse number of roles. In The Ballad of Cable Hogue he played the Reverend Joshua Douglas Sloan, Cable's somewhat philosophical and spiritual partner.  In TRON he played multiples roles,  He played the corrupt Senior Executive Vice President of ENCOM Ed Dillinger, as well as Commander Sark (a program created by Dillinger in the cyberspace of the ENCOM mainframe) and the voice of Master Control in the cyberspace of the ENCOM mainframe. In Time After Time he played a yet even more unpleasant character, Dr. John Leslie Stevenson, also known as Jack the Ripper. Over the years he played everything from Keith Jennings, the photographer who realizes the truth about Damien's birth, in The Omen to Chancellor Gorkon of the Klingon High Council in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to Dr. Alfred Necessiter, the scientist who developed a way to store living brains, in The Man with Two Brains. David Warner played  a wide variety of roles throughout his career. If he was so very prolific, it was because he was very good.