Actor David Warner, who had a long-running career on stage and screen, has died at the age of 80.
Warner died on Sunday from a cancer-related illness at Denville Hall, a care home for those in the entertainment industry.
His family said in a statement: ‘It is with an overwhelmingly heavy heart that we share the news of the death of the actor David Warner (at the age of nearly 81), from a cancer-related illness, in the early hours of July 24 at Denville Hall.
‘Over the past 18 months he approached his diagnosis with a characteristic grace and dignity.
‘For 60 years he was a well-respected stage, television, voice and film actor. His theatre career with the RSC included an era-defining Hamlet, Henry VI in The Wars of The Roses in the 1960s and Falstaff in their 2008 Histories Cycle.
‘He also played King Lear at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2005. He made well over 100 films including Tom Jones, Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment, The Omen, Time Bandits, Tron, Star Treks V & VI and Titanic, as well as three films with Sam Peckinpah – The Ballad Of Cable Hogue, Straw Dogs and Cross Of Iron.
‘He featured in countless television, radio & audio productions and his last film appearance was as Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins Returns.
‘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.
‘He is survived by his beloved partner Lisa Bowerman, his much-loved son Luke and daughter in-law Sarah, his good friend Jane Spencer Prior, his first wife Harriet Evans and his many gold dust friends.’
Warner’s first on-screen credit was in 1962 and his career spanned six decades.
His roles included villainous characters, including in films like The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) and Time Bandits (1981).
But one of his best-known roles was as photographer Keith Jennings in the supernatural classic The Omen in 1976.
Other notable roles included Bob Cratchit in George C Scott’s 1984 adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and Spicer Lovejoy, Billy Zane’s sidekick, in James Cameron’s Titanic in 1997.
Warner still took on incredible roles in his later years, including Admiral Boom in the Emily Blunt-led Mary Poppins Returns in 2018.
His final role was voicing a character in an episode of Teen Titans Go! in 2020.
Warner was also an accomplished stage actor, after attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
He made his professional debut at the Royal Court Theatre in 1962, in a minor role in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1963, starring in The Tempest, Julius Caesar, and Richard II.
In 1965, he played Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, with the role being revived in 1966.
While he went on to have a long hiatus from theatre work, he returned to the stage in 2001 for a Broadway revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara.
Tributes have come in for the late star, including from director Edgar Wright, who tweeted: ‘Very sad to hear of David Warner’s passing, an actor with a huge legacy on stage & screen and unforgettable roles in; Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment, Straw Dogs, From Beyond The Grave, The Omen, Time After Time, Time Bandits, Tron, Titanic and much more. He will be missed.’
