He’s played Nazis, serial killers, super villians, simpletons, at least one Evil Genius and even a Master Control Program, bringing gravitas and panache to every role. He’s definitely a “hey, it’s that guy” actor but David Warner is more than just a character actor. Like many British actors, he started off in Shakespeare before moving on to film and television. That Shakespearean training served him well as Warner became best known for some chilling performances as iconic villains in Time Bandits, Tron, and my personal favorite Time After Time, where he played a time traveling Jack The Ripper pursued through time by H.G. Wells. Despite his reputation as a heavy Warner was always able to inject some sly humor in his roles. Here he is in Time Bandits, blowing up a dog:
Perhaps Warner’s most unforgettable role was in The Omen, where he was decapitated in rather spectacular fashion:
Warner has done some terrific voice over work later in his career, playing such arch villains as the Red Skull and Ra’s Al Ghul and Lord Azluk in the animated Doctor Who:Dreamland series. He’s still going strong into his 70′s though, regularly appearing on stage and television. Our mark of a Cool Actor is someone who you’re always happy to see pop up in whatever you’re watching and on that count David Warner is most definitely a Cool Actor.
I’ll let David sing us out on a high note. Despite the costume he’s not doing the Safety Dance and no midget jesters were harmed during the filming of this video.
I worked on BEASTMASTER 3 (a.k.a. BEASTMASTER: THE EYE OF BRAXUS) as a makeup effects assistant, applying the old age prosthetics to David Warner’s hands. This meant I got to talk to him a lot, and he was a heck of a cool guy. One night while I was watching TV in the hotel room, AIRPORT ’79 came on, featuring Warner. I mentioned it to him the next day and he said “One must pay one’s bills, mustn’t one?”
Love David as the lascivious fallen preacher in Peckinpah’s underrated “The Ballad of Cable Hogue”. But one of his best remains his first starring role, in “Morgan!: A Suitable Case for Treatment”. Before Carl Reiner and George Segal had fun with the gorilla costume in “Where’s Poppa?”, there was Warner as Morgan.
One of my favorite Klingons.
For that matter, he’s played three different Star Trek races. While Cardassian torturer Gul Madred was undoubtedly his best Trek role, I unfortunately cannot erase from my memory his delivery of one of the worst moments of the worst Trek movie. One word: “Eden.”
Plus, he’s got TWIN PEAKS on his resume as well. Instant cool.
Plus the “Twin Peaks”-ish trippy virtual reality mini-series “Wild Palms”, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Keith Gordon, Phil Joanou and Peter Hewitt.
Would like to point out…he’s not yet in his 70′s!!