Fans of fantastic movie villains — and accomplished actors who could play all manner of characters besides — are in mourning today. The great David Warner, stalwart star of stage and screen, has died aged 80.
Born in Manchester in 1941, Warner's youth was a turbulent one as his father's changing jobs led to the family moving between towns frequently, uprooting his son from school to school, leading to poor grades.
Yet he was saved from a life as a juvenile delinquent by a teacher who became his mentor, and ended up training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Warner made his stage debut at the Royal Court Theatre in 1962, rising up the ranks in Shakespearian productions before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1963.
His film debut came in 1963 also, with a supporting role in Tom Jones.
Yet it would be genre fans who benefitted most from his talents, as Warner proved adept at imbuing stuffy officials scheming villains and, in 1976's original The Omen, curious, ill-fated photographer with life (and in the case of the photographer, a memorable, head-severing death). 1979's Time After Time saw him playing HG Wells' best friend, who turns out to be Jack the Ripper, and travels to contemporary San Francisco to continue killing.
In 1982's Tron, he has several linked roles: villain Ed Dillinger, the voice of the Master Control Program and Sark, the leader of the MCP's Army. Time Bandits fans know him as the villain called Evil.
To Star Trek fans, he will forever be known for various roles including Federation Diplomat St. John Talbot in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and, most memorably on the small screen, as the strict Cardassian torturer Gul Madred in the two-part Chain Of Command from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
James Cameron also put him to good use as the sneering enforcer Spicer Lovejoy aboard 1997's Titanic (Warner's second time aboard the ship after 1970 TV movie S.O.S. Titanic).
Among his other credits are such memorable movies as Nightwing, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue, Cross Of Iron, The Man With Two Brains, Waxwork, In The Mouth Of Madness, Straw Dogs, Scream 2, and, his final work on the big screen, Mary Poppins Returns, in which he plays Admiral Boom.
Occasionally joking that he was hired because he was "cheap", his wide-ranging career in film, TV and theatre proved that he had the talent to back up the humility.
Warner passed away yesterday at Denville Hall, nursing facility for entertainment industry veterans, from a cancer-related illness.
"Over the past 18 months he approached his diagnosis with a characteristic grace and dignity," his family said in a statement given to the BBC.
"He will be missed hugely by us, his family and friends, and 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. We are heartbroken."