Acclaimed actor David Warner dies at 80
David Warner, a famous British actor who acted in a range of different classics has died at 80 years old.
Warner's family said he died from a cancer-related illness on Sunday at Denville Hall, a retirement home for entertainers in London.
Often cast as a villain, Warner had roles in the 1971 psychological thriller Straw Dogs, the 1976 horror classic The Omen, the 1979 time-travel adventure Time After Time — he was Jack the Ripper — and the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, 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 Hamlet for the company, directed by Peter Hall, was considered one of the finest of his generation.
Despite his success as a stage actor, chronic stage fright led Warner to prefer film and TV work for many years, seeing him nominated for a British Academy Film Award for the title role in Karel Reisz's Swinging London tragicomedy Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, released in 1966. .
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 Gilliam's Time Bandits, computer movie Tron, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, and the Star Trek franchise, where he made several appearances in different roles.
Warner returned to theatre in 2001 after almost three decades to play Andrew Undershaft in a Broadway revival of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara.
Warner's family said he would be 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," the family said.
They said Warner is survived by his partner Lisa Bowerman, his son Luke, daughter-in-law Sarah, "his good friend Jane Spencer Prior, his first wife Harriet Evans and his many gold dust friends".
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