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'Titanic' and 'The Omen' actor David Warner dies at 80

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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

FILE - British David Warner is photographed at the Duke of York's Barracks in Chelsea, London, Jan. 19, 1967, where he was rehearsing for the film production "Work... is A Four Letter Word" with British singer Cilla Black. Warner, a versatile British actor whose roles ranged from Shakespeare to sci-fi cult classics, has died. He was 80. Warners family said he died from a cancer-related illness on Sunday, July 24, 2022 at Denville Hall, a retirement home for entertainers in London. (AP Photo, File)

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

Warnerā€™s family said he died from a cancer-related illness on Sunday at Denville Hall, a retirement home for entertainers in London.

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Often cast as a villain, Warner had roles in the 1971 psychological thriller ā€œStraw Dogs,ā€ the 1976 horror classic ā€œThe Omen,ā€ the 1979 time-travel adventure ā€œTime After Timeā€ ā€” he was Jack the Ripper ā€” and the 1997 blockbuster ā€œTitanic,ā€ where he played the malicious valet Spicer Lovejoy.

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 ā€œHamletā€ for the company, directed by Peter Hall, was considered one of the finest of his generation.

Gregor Doran, the RSC's artistic director emeritus, said Warner's Hamlet, played as a tortured student, ā€œseemed the epitome of 1960ā€™s youth, and caught the radical spirit of a turbulent age.ā€

Warner also starred in Hallā€™s 1968 film of ā€œA Midsummer Nightā€™s Dream,ā€ opposite Helen Mirren and Diana Rigg.

Despite his acclaim as as a stage actor, chronic stage fright led Warner to prefer film and TV work for many years.

He was nominated for a British Academy Film Award for the title role in Karel Reiszā€™s Swinging London tragicomedy ā€œMorgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment,ā€ released in 1966. He later won an Emmy for his role as Roman politician Pomponius Falco in the 1981 TV miniseries ā€œMasada.ā€

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 Gilliamā€™s ā€œTime Bandits,ā€ computer movie ā€œTron,ā€ Tim Burtonā€™s remake of ā€œPlanet of the Apes,ā€ and the ā€œStar Trekā€ franchise, where he made several appearances in different roles.

Warner returned to theater in 2001 after almost three decades to play Andrew Undershaft in a Broadway revival of George Bernard Shawā€™s ā€œMajor Barbara.ā€ In 2005 he starred in Shakespeareā€™s ā€œKing Learā€ at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and in 2007 returned to the RSC to play Shakespeareā€™s comic buffoon Falstaff.

One of his final film roles was as retired naval officer Admiral Boom in ā€œMary Poppins Returns,ā€ released in 2018.

Warnerā€™s family said he would be remembered ā€œas 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."

ā€œWe are heartbroken,ā€ the family said.

They said Warner is survived by his partner Lisa Bowerman, his son Luke, daughter-in-law Sarah, ā€œhis good friend Jane Spencer Prior, his first wife Harriet Evans and his many gold dust friends.ā€


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