Prolific second role, David Warner has played in more than 200 films and series.
He died on Sunday July 24 at the age of 80 following a long illness.
His family confirmed the news to the BBC
'with extremely heavy hearts'
.
“He will be sorely missed by his family and friends, and we will remember him as a kind-hearted, generous and compassionate man, partner and father, whose extraordinary professional legacy touched the lives of so many. over the years,”
she told the BBC.
Noted for his portrayal of Caledon Hockley's valet in
Titanic
, he had also portrayed characters for
The Curse
,
Planet of the Apes
or one of his last roles, that of Admiral Bloom in
The Return of Mary Poppins
in 2018.
From big to small screen
Born on July 29, 1941 in Manchester, David Warner started working very early, doing odd jobs without ever losing his passion for the theatre.
He graduated at the age of 21 from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and played roles in the great classics of English theater throughout the 1960s. At the same time, he was spotted in castings for television and film productions, in particular adaptations of Shakespeare adapted by the BBC.
In 1966, he landed his first big role in the British comedy
Morgan
, where he formed an unlikely couple with Vanessa Redgrave, he a penniless artist raised in communist ideals and her, his preppy wife who was trying to divorce him to marry a fashionable gallery owner.
Launched, his film career is remarkable for its eclecticism.
We find it on the poster of
The Seagull,
adapted by Sidney Lumet, of
Providence
directed by Alain Resnais, of
Michaël Kohlhaas,
of Volker Schlöndorff, of
The Doll's House
of Joseph Losey, of
The Woman of the French Lieutenant
of Karel Reisz, alongside Donald Sutherland in
Disappearance
, or Dustin Hoffman in
The Straw Dogs
.
His last appearance in the cinema dates from the release
of Mary Poppins Returns
in 2018. But David Warner has also appeared in many genre films, from horror (
From beyond the grave, Bloody Island, Waxwork
,
Necronomicon, Scream...),
to disaster films
(Airport 80 Concorde, Titanic...),
via science fiction (Tron, Planet of the Apes, The Ninja Turtles...).
His Shakespearian diction even offers him two different roles in two films of the
Star Trek
saga .
In parallel with his filming with great film directors, he is very present on television, in historical series such as
The Wars of the Roses
,
Holocaust
,
Masada
,
Marco Polo.
The British actor has also multiplied supporting roles in popular series such as
The Remington Steele Mysteries
,
For the Love of Risk
,
Twin Peaks
,
Star Trek: The New Generation
,
Arabesque
, and
Doctor Who
.
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