Changes: David Warner

Revision as of 10:12, 18 March 2008

Template:Realworld David Warner (born 29 July 1941; age 82) is a highly-respected English actor who has appeared in two Star Trek movies and a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He first played the part of Ambassador St. John Talbot in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier in 1989. In 1991, he returned to the Star Trek franchise to play Klingon chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The following year, he played Cardassian Gul Madred in the TNG episodes "Chain of Command, Part I" and "Part II". He also reprised the role of Chancellor Gorkon for the video game Star Trek: Klingon Academy.

Life and Career

Born in Manchester, England, Warner trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) before becoming a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he became famous for his portrayal of Hamlet. In the early 1960s, he made the move to film. In 1966, he starred in the title role of Morgan!, an oddball artist obsessed with Karl Marx and gorillas. His performance in this film made him a star in Britain. Two years later, Warner made his United States debut with a supporting role in John Frankenheimer's drama The Fixer, co-starring TOS guest actor David Opatoshu. This was followed in 1970 with a role in the Western comedy The Ballad of Cable Hogue, which would be the first of three collaborations with acclaimed director Sam Peckinpah. The second would be the following year in Straw Dogs, a film which was ironically banned from being released on video in Warner's native England until 2002. Warner's third and final project with Peckinpah was 1977's Cross of Iron.

In the U.S., Warner has become well-known for his role as the unfortunate Keith Jennings, a photo-journalist who becomes one of the evil Damien's victims, in the classic horror movie The Omen. His character was the one who was involved in the film's famous beheading scene. Another role for which he is remembered is that of Jack the Ripper, opposite Malcolm McDowell's H.G. Wells, in writer/director Nicholas Meyer's acclaimed 1979 science fiction adventure Time After Time. For his performance in this film, Warner was nominated for a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Since then, he has become well identified with villainous roles, typically in "genre" films. In the 1980s alone he played: the role of the "Evil Genius" in Terry Gilliam's sci-fi comedy Time Bandits; the villainous ENCOM executive Ed Dillinger, his evil creation, Sark, and voiced the Master Control Program in the Disney's 1982 cult sci-fi film Tron (co-starring Dan Shor, Vince Deadrick Jr., Tony Brubaker, and Erik Cord); mad scientist Alfred Necessiter in the 1983 sci-fi comedy The Man with Two Brains (co-starring James Cromwell); and a demented vampire hunter determined to kill the young protagonist in the 1988 horror comedy My Best Friend Is a Vampire (co-starring Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Rene Auberjonois). However, he did continue to play more benign characters, such as Bob Cratchit in the 1984 TV version of A Christmas Carol, starring George C. Scott in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Warner's other film credits during the 1980s include The Island (1980), The French Lieutenant's Wife (1981), The Company of Wolves (1984), and, in 1988, Mr. North (with Virginia Madsen) and Spies Inc. (with Alice Krige). He co-starred with Star Trek: Voyager guest player Zach Galligan in two films: Waxwork in 1988 and Mortal Passions in 1989.

Warner continued portraying antagonists in films such as Tripwire (1990, with Meg Foster), Quest of the Delta Knights (1993, with Brigid Brannagh), and, most notably, in the 1997 blockbuster hit Titanic, in which he played slick manservant and bodyguard Spicer Lovejoy. That film had Jenette Goldstein in a small role. He played the cruel James Sawyer, captain of the HMS Renown, in the Horatio Hornblower TV movie series starring Ioan Gruffudd. His penchant for villainous roles carried over to voice acting, most notably as the mystical Ra's al Ghul on Batman: The Animated Series; the sorcerer villain Jon Irenicus in the computer game Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn; the mutant Herbert Landon on Spider-Man: The Animated Series; as The Lobe on Freakazoid!; rogue agent Alpha on Men in Black: The Series; and the evil Doctor Klench in Radio 4 audio drama/comedy Nebulous. Warner did play the occasional "good guy" role, though: for example, Professor Jordan Perry in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991, co-starring Michelan Sisti, Frank Welker, Brian Tochi, Lee Spencer, and Lisa Chess), and Adouis Gajic in a first season episode of the sci-fi television series Babylon 5 (co-starring with Gerrit Graham, Andreas Katsulas and Patricia Tallman). He played the protagonist in Doctor Who on audio in an adventure entitled "Sympathy for the Devil", where he portrayed an alternate version of the Doctor's third incarnation.

Other notable films in which Warner has appeared include The Lost World and its sequel, Return to the Lost World (both 1992), In the Mouth of Madness (1995, with John Glover), Naked Souls (1995, with Clayton Rohner and Dean Stockwell), Ice Cream Man (1995, starring Clint Howard in the title role), Money Talks (1997), Scream 2 (1997), the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes (co-starring Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Erick Avari), in the same year (2001) in In the Beginning (with: William O. Campbell and Steven Berkoff) and Ladies in Lavender (2004). He played Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn in 1999's Wing Commander; his Time After Time co-star, fellow Star Trek film actor, and fellow Englishman Malcolm McDowell had originally played the role of Tolwyn in the video games on which the film was based.

On television, Warner has participated in numerous mini-series. Among these are 1978's Holocaust (for which Warner received an Emmy Award nomination), 1981's Masada (for which Warner won an Emmy Award), 1982's Marco Polo (in which DS9 guest star Kenneth Marshall played the titular character and TOS star Leonard Nimoy appeared), and 1993's Wild Palms (co-starring fellow Star Trek VI star Kim Cattrall as well as Brad Dourif, Bob Gunton, Bebe Neuwirth, and Charles Rocket). He has also made guest appearances on Murder, She Wrote, Twin Peaks, and Lois & Clark, among other popular shows, and was nominated for an Annie Award for his portrayal of Doctor Vic Frankenstein on the animated series Toonsylvania.

Appearances

Trivia

Prior to co-starring together on Star Trek VI, David Warner and Christopher Plummer (who played General Chang) worked together on the 1977 film The Disappearance. The two later reunited for the video game Star Trek: Klingon Academy.

Warner is one of the many Star Trek performers to lend their voices to the animated series Gargoyles.

Other Trek connections

Additional projects in which Warner worked with fellow Star Trek alumni include:

Nightwing (1979; with Stephen Macht)
The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979) with Ed Begley, Jr. and Robin Gammell
The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1993, with John Rhys-Davies and Brad Blaisdell)
Tryst (1994) with Louise Fletcher
Inner Sanctum II (1994) with Michael Nouri

External links

David Warner (actor) at Wikipedia
Template:IMDb-link

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 Warner continued portraying antagonists in films such as ''Tripwire'' (1990, with [[Meg Foster]]), ''Quest of the Delta Knights'' (1993, with [[Brigid Brannagh]]), and, most notably, in the 1997 blockbuster hit ''Titanic'', in which he played slick manservant and bodyguard Spicer Lovejoy. That film had [[Jenette Goldstein]] in a small role. He played the cruel James Sawyer, captain of the HMS ''Renown'', in the ''Horatio Hornblower'' TV movie series starring Ioan Gruffudd. His penchant for villainous roles carried over to voice acting, most notably as the mystical Ra's al Ghul on ''Batman: The Animated Series''; the sorcerer villain Jon Irenicus in the computer game ''Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn''; the mutant Herbert Landon on ''Spider-Man: The Animated Series''; as The Lobe on ''Freakazoid!''; rogue agent Alpha on ''Men in Black: The Series''; and the evil Doctor Klench in Radio 4 audio drama/comedy ''Nebulous''. Warner did play the occasional "good guy" role, though: for example, Professor Jordan Perry in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze'' (1991, co-starring [[Michelan Sisti]], [[Frank Welker]], [[Brian Tochi]], [[Lee Spencer]], and [[Lisa Chess]]), and Adouis Gajic in a first season episode of the sci-fi television series ''Babylon 5'' (co-starring with [[Gerrit Graham]], [[Andreas Katsulas]] and [[Patricia Tallman]]). He played the protagonist in ''Doctor Who'' on audio in an adventure entitled "Sympathy for the Devil", where he portrayed an alternate version of the Doctor's third incarnation.
-Other notable films in which Warner has appeared include ''The Lost World'' and its sequel, ''Return to the Lost World'' (both 1992), ''In the Mouth of Madness'' (1995, with [[John Glover]]), ''Naked Souls'' (1995, with [[Clayton Rohner]] and [[Dean Stockwell]]), ''Ice Cream Man'' (1995, starring [[Clint Howard]] in the title role), ''Money Talks'' (1997), ''Scream 2'' (1997), the 2001 remake of ''Planet of the Apes'' (co-starring [[Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa]] and [[Erick Avari]]), and ''Ladies in Lavender'' (2004). He played Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn in 1999's ''Wing Commander''; his ''Time After Time'' co-star, fellow ''Star Trek'' film actor, and fellow Englishman Malcolm McDowell had originally played the role of Tolwyn in the video games on which the film was based.
+Other notable films in which Warner has appeared include ''The Lost World'' and its sequel, ''Return to the Lost World'' (both 1992), ''In the Mouth of Madness'' (1995, with [[John Glover]]), ''Naked Souls'' (1995, with [[Clayton Rohner]] and [[Dean Stockwell]]), ''Ice Cream Man'' (1995, starring [[Clint Howard]] in the title role), ''Money Talks'' (1997), ''Scream 2'' (1997), the 2001 remake of ''Planet of the Apes'' (co-starring [[Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa]] and [[Erick Avari]]), in the same year (2001) in ''In the Beginning'' (with: [[William O. Campbell]] and [[Steven Berkoff]]) and ''Ladies in Lavender'' (2004). He played Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn in 1999's ''Wing Commander''; his ''Time After Time'' co-star, fellow ''Star Trek'' film actor, and fellow Englishman Malcolm McDowell had originally played the role of Tolwyn in the video games on which the film was based.
 On television, Warner has participated in numerous mini-series. Among these are 1978's ''Holocaust'' (for which Warner received an Emmy Award nomination), 1981's ''Masada'' (for which Warner won an Emmy Award), 1982's ''Marco Polo'' (in which DS9 guest star [[Kenneth Marshall]] played the titular character and TOS star [[Leonard Nimoy]] appeared), and 1993's ''Wild Palms'' (co-starring fellow ''Star Trek VI'' star [[Kim Cattrall]] as well as [[Brad Dourif]], [[Bob Gunton]], [[Bebe Neuwirth]], and [[Charles Rocket]]). He has also made guest appearances on ''Murder, She Wrote'', ''Twin Peaks'', and ''Lois & Clark'', among other popular shows, and was nominated for an Annie Award for his portrayal of Doctor Vic Frankenstein on the animated series ''Toonsylvania''.