David Warner dead aged 80 from cancer-related illness

David Warner has died aged 80 from a cancer-related illness.

The ‘Titanic’ and ‘The Omen’ actor passed on Sunday (24.07.22) at Denville Hall, a care home for entertainment industry figures.

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.”

They added: “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’.”

His loved ones also highlighted how he featured in “countless television, radio and audio productions”.

Warner’s last film appearance was as Admiral Boom in ‘Mary Poppins Returns’.

His family also said: “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 villains in 1978’s ‘The Thirty Nine Steps’ and Time Bandits in 1981.

One of his best-known roles was as photographer Keith Jennings in 1976’s supernatural chiller ‘The Omen’.

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;, before he first played Hamlet in 1965.