The entertainment world has lost an acting titan with the passing of David Warner. A performer with a career spanning nearly six decades, Warner was a fearless actor who seemed to live inside every character he portrayed, whether it be a 15th century king or an infamous Nazi. His training with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Royal Shakespeare Company, paired with his own innate ability to fully inhabit a role, gave Warner a film and television legacy that few can match.
With hundreds of film and TV performances between 1962 and 2020, Warner never failed to fully inhabit and embrace the characters he played, regardless of the role. Warner was a true character actor's actor, and fortunately for us, we'll always be able to enjoy the mark he made on the celluloid world. Although it's virtually impossible to compile a list of Warner's "best" roles, here's a non-exhaustive list of some of his most memorable performances over the last 60 years.
King Henry VI in The War of the Roses (1965)
Warner was just 24 years old when he took on the role of the King of England and Lord of Ireland in this early British miniseries, a filmed theater production of four of Shakespeare's historical plays presented as a 14-episode television event. Warner held his own against acting legends like Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Ian Holm as the young ruler who inherited the Hundred Years' War, slowly went mad, and died as a prisoner in the Tower of London. This role would have been a challenge for the most seasoned of actors, but the relatively inexperienced Warner tackled the complicated character as if he'd been born to play the part, and audiences took note.
Keith Jennings in The Omen (1976)
In a departure from roles as historical figures or characters from literary classics, Warner portrayed a rebellious photojournalist and sidekick to Gregory Peck in this classic horror film. As one of the movie's few sympathetic characters, audiences cheered for Warner's Jennings as he helped Peck unearth the mystery behind the birth of the evil child Damien and the Satanic cult behind him. Unfortunately, Jennings meets a most gruesome demise in the film when a runaway truck unleashes a huge sheet of glass that takes his head right off. Ask any moviegoer what they remember about Warner in this role, and they'll likely tell you about this shocking scene.
Reinhard Heydrich in Holocaust (1978)
From Shakespearean king to Nazi leader, Warner bravely took on the role of the infamous German SS official and principal architect of the Holocaust in this award-winning NBC epic miniseries. Warner captured the coldness and cruelty of the key architect of the Final Solution with bone-chilling accuracy. Watching Warner's callous countenance as his Heydrich calmly orders the killings of the German regime's resisters is not something easily forgotten. Warner's courage in portraying this detestable figure in world history earned him a well-deserved Emmy nomination.
Jack the Ripper in Time After Time (1979)
Warner plays the notorious Jack the Ripper in this science fiction crime fantasy, but in this twist on the tale, Jack the Ripper steals H.G. Wells' (Malcolm McDowell) time machine and travels to 20th century San Francisco to carry on his killing spree. Warner is exquisite as erudite surgeon Dr. John Leslie Stevenson, the man who becomes the homicidal serial killer, and his cat-and-mouse exchanges with McDowell's Wells in the film are like a master class in the art of controlled, measured performance. And for sheer fun and excitement, nothing can beat the thrill of watching Warner flee from McDowell through the streets of San Francisco in this classic thriller.
The Creature in Frankenstein (1984)
When most people think of Frankenstein, they think of Boris Karloff and his legendary portrayal of the ill-fated monster. It's a testament to Warner's bravery as an actor that he would have the confidence to bring his own interpretation of the creature to this television retelling of the Mary Shelley novel. Barely recognizable beneath the prosthetics and makeup required to create the grotesque beast, Warner was still able to bring a sense of sadness and empathy to the doomed character. There is a particularly heartbreaking scene in the film when the creature confronts his creator and begs for a companion to cure his loneliness. In Warner's performance, viewers could feel the sheer grief and despondency destroying the creature from within, and this sorrowful moment left few eyes dry.
Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Warner was a familiar face in the Star Trek franchise, with roles in two films and in the Next Generation TV series. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Warner seemed to have a ball as Chancellor Gorkon of the Klingon Empire. Hamming it up with a cast that included William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Plummer, and Kim Cattrall, Warner played the wise leader intent on making peace with the Federation, but whose unfortunate assassination sets up a battle for the very lives of Kirk and Spock. It's refreshing to watch Warner in a role that's a bit of a wink and a nod to his earlier parts as kings, rulers, and other imposing authority figures. This time, Warner did it all for fun, and audiences loved taking the ride with him.
Thomas Eckhardt in Twin Peaks (1991)
There's little doubt that Twin Peaks was one of the most unique, engaging, and completely bizarre series to hit TV screens in the 1990s, and its cult standing is strong even 30 years later. What better place, then, for Warner to bring his talents? Warner portrayed the mysterious sunglasses-wearing Thomas Eckhardt, former business partner of one Andrew Packard (Dan O'Herlihy), whom Eckhardt tried (and failed) to have killed. Warner brought just the right notes of sophistication and superiority to Eckhardt, a criminal mastermind who is eventually out-masterminded by his former protégé, Josie (Joan Chen). Warner meets a tragic demise in this one, and although his character's arc in this curious series was brief, it left a lasting impression on the show's devoted fans.
Spicer Lovejoy in Titanic (1997)
In this James Cameron star-studded, special effects spectacular, Warner played the smarmiest of the smarmy as Spicer Lovejoy, devoted butler to the jealous and overbearing Cal Hockley (Billy Zane). Viewers will remember Warner's Lovejoy as the evil guy who slips the coveted Heart of the Ocean necklace into the jacket pocket of Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson, setting off a chain of events that begins with Jack being falsely implicated as a thief and ends with the poor kid sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. As Lovejoy, Warner delivered a cool persona that hid a sinister manipulator intent on doing anything in the service of his employer. Warner was so effective in embodying the evil of his character that audiences actually applauded when the Titanic's stern crashed down upon Lovejoy in the movie's epic crescendo.