David Warner, an actor, in the year 1967 Over the course of his career, he appeared in more than 200 television shows and films, some of the most notable of which being “The Omen,” “Time After Time,” “TRON,” “Titanic,” and “Wallander.” Credit… The Associated Press (Smith)
David Warner, who began his career on the British stage and played Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company when he was just 24 years old, passed away on Sunday in Northwest London. He had accumulated more than 200 credits in film and television, some of which include “The Omen,” “Time After Time,” “TRON,” “Titanic,” and “Wallander.” His career began on the British stage, where he played Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company when he was just 24 years old. He was 80.
His family said in a statement that the cause of death, which occurred at Denville Hall, an acting retirement home, was “an illness related to cancer.”
Despite the fact that Mr. Warner appeared in a wide variety of parts, he is likely to be remembered most for playing malevolent characters. In the 1979 film “Time After Time,” he played the role of Jack the Ripper. The following year, in 1981’s “Time Bandits,” his character was referred to as simply Evil Genius. In the film “TRON,” which was released in 1982 and stars Jeff Bridges as the character Kevin Flynn who is transferred into the inner workings of a computer, Flynn’s adversary in both the real world and the virtual world was the character named Clu.
In 2003, Mr. Warner gave an interview to the British newspaper The Independent in which he stated that he had never been requested to portray the cheerful, romantic lead. Therefore, acquiring the girl is something that has never occurred to me in the past. I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with some stunningly gorgeous women, but they’ve never wanted to be with me.
Not that he was picky about the parts he played, like the one in “TRON.”
In the film “TRON,” which was released in 1982 and stars Jeff Bridges as the character Kevin Flynn who is transferred into the inner workings of a computer, Flynn’s adversary in both the real world and the virtual world was a character named Mr. Warner.
Credit…
Productions handled by Walt Disney
Mr. Warner maintained his marketability for an exceptionally long period of time, in contrast to the careers of some performers who are only successful for a small period of time. In the 1970s, which was his first full decade working in film and television, he racked up more than two dozen credits; in the 1990s, he racked up more than 80. He had a face that seemed adaptable to practically any situation, whether the role demanded obscurity or intricacy. He had both of those features in his appearance.
As a compliment to Mr. Warner’s performance as a soldier in the film drama “The Bofors Gun,” Vincent Canby wrote in The Times in 1968 that “somehow he makes his face almost perfectly forgettable, like any one of a thousand faces seen in a bus station.” Canby made this observation in reference to Mr. Warner’s performance. “The Bofors Gun” was released in 1968. Emily Young, who directed him in the drama “Kiss of Life” in 2003, said basically the opposite of what he had claimed about himself almost 35 years later.
She commented to The Independent that “David possesses such a physical presence.” “It looks like he’s carrying the weight of his life’s experiences in both his frame and his face.”
It was the director Peter Hall, who at the time was the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who propelled the young Mr. Warner to the forefront of the theatrical world by giving him prominent roles, such as the title role in “Hamlet” in 1965. Critics were split on how they felt about Mr. Warner’s rendition of the part, which was noticeably different from what theatregoers were used to seeing. Mark Gardner, a reporter for the Sunday Mercury in Birmingham, England, was a supporter.
Mr. Gardner described the subject of his writing as “this gangly, blinking, shy young man who covers his pain and nervousness under clown’s cap and khaki student’s outfit.”
“It is a Hamlet for this lost, postwar generation,” he continued, “a generation that is frustrated, miserable, and certain of nothing.”
The play was performed in a rotating repertory over a period of two years. Mr. Hall offered his thoughts on Mr. Warner’s performance in an interview he gave to The Times in the year 2001.
According to what he had to say about the matter, “It was most crucially the Hamlet that really did define the part for the ’60s.” “It was Hamlet as seen through the eyes of the youth. David’s softness and passivity fit in perfectly with the flower power movement and everything associated with it. He was fantastic.”
The extraordinary fact that Mr. Warner made his debut on the American stage at the age of 60 in a performance of George Bernard Shaw’s “Major Barbara” by the Roundabout Theater Company in New York was the impetus for the article that was published in 2001. Additionally, it was his first appearance of any kind on stage since the year 1972. He claimed that he had quit doing stage work in part because of the nervousness that he had when performing live.
In an interview with The Times in 2001, he explained, “You see, I’m not a man of the theatre.” “Not like McKellen and Jacobi and Ian Holm and all those individuals who have toiled from the bottom up, whom I adored when I was just beginning,” “When I was just beginning, I was inspired by people like McKellen and Jacobi and Ian Holm.”
On the other hand, while Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, and Mr. Holm had become towering characters in the theatre, Mr. Warner had by that time been recognised for seemingly never encountering a film or TV job that he wouldn’t take. Mr. Holm had also become a prominent figure in the theatre. He received an Emmy Award for his role in the 1981 mini-series “Masada,” which was about the Roman Empire’s siege of the Masada citadel in Israel. In addition, he had a role in the “Star Trek” franchise in which he played a Klingon chancellor. His resume included both moderately and highly prestigious roles. He made a joke about that reputation when recalling a chat he had with Mr. Holm, an old coworker, after they had finished filming on a television adaptation of “Uncle Vanya” in 1991.
I confronted him with the question, “What are you going to do next?” Mr. Warner shared his thoughts with The Times. “And Ian, who was always very selective in the most admirable way, indicated that he was going to be working with Jeremy Irons on the Kafka film. Following that, he inquired, “So, what are you doing?” I told her that I was working on something that was going to be named “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.”
David Hattersley Warner’s birthday is July 29th, and he was born in Manchester, England, in 1941. According to an interview he gave to The Times in 1982, he explained that his parents did not get married and “kept taking me from one other,” which resulted in him moving across England quite a bit.
He received his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and according to what he related the story, he was working with an experimental theatre company and had a seven-line part until fate intervened.
“Peter Hall stopped by to see the production,” he recalled, “which was his job,” and then, about a year later, I got an offer to audition for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I did, and I got in.” “Peter Hall’s job is to visit shows,” he continued.
Around the same time, he was cast in his first important role on television, which was in a play called “The Madhouse on Castle Street,” which was broadcast on British television. Another member of that cast who would go on to achieve notoriety was an American folk singer by the name of Bob Dylan, who at the time was relatively unknown. The programme was only only broadcast once, in the beginning of 1963, but the footage has been lost. One of Mr. Dylan’s earliest performances of “Blowin’ in the Wind” is rumoured to have been a part of this event.
In the same year, Mr. Warner was cast in his first major film part, which was in the movie “Tom Jones,” where he played a character named Blifil who was, of course, repulsive. His credibility as a film actor was further established when he played the titular character in the comedic drama “Morgan!” (1966).
Mr. Warner’s work in television included roles in the mini-series “The Wars of the Roses,” which aired in the 1960s, “Holocaust,” which aired in the 1970s, “Hold the Back Page,” which aired in the 1980s, “The Choir” which aired in the 1990s, and “Conviction,” which aired in the 2000s. He had recurrent parts in a number of television programmes, including “Twin Peaks” in 1991, “Wallander” in this century, and “Ripper Street” in the previous century.
According to the notification made by his family, the people he leaves behind include his partner Lisa Bowerman and his son Luke.
July 26, 2022 is the correct date.
An previous version of this obituary contained some incorrect information regarding the names of two films in which Mr. Warner appeared as a cast member. The film from 1968 titled “The Bofors Gun” (not “The Borfors Gun”) and the television miniseries from the 1960s titled “The Wars of the Roses” (not “The War of the Roses”) should be spelled with two capital letters.