IN MEMORIAM: David Warner(1941-2022)

The first time I saw David Warner in anything was Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, subjectively the worst Star Trek movie ever made.

He was hardly the issue with it.

In fact, in that movie, Warner had more lines and general screen time as Federation representative St. John Talbot on the planet Nimbus III than he did a few years later as Gorkon, Chancellor of the Klingon High Council in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, subjectively the best Star Trek movie ever made.

He made his presence felt in both movies, though, and his last line in Star Trek VI, the dying plea of a wounded old Klingon staring into the eyes of William Shatner's James T. Kirk, was "Don't let it end this way, Captain."

It's one of the most beautifully haunting lines in the franchise, not just because of what it meant in context but because of how Warner delivered it. Here, Warner played a veteran Klingon leader trying to secure a future for his people in the wake of a horrific disaster. He sought only peace with a Federation dominated by humans that had grown used to hating Klingons as Kirk admittedly did, especially after the crew of Klingon commander Kruge murdered his son David in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.

Now, after a successful assassination attempt on Gorkon's life, his last words shattered the vengeful shield of Star Trek's most heralded captain. It sent him on a journey that would ultimately lead him to carry on Gorkon's legacy of peace between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire.

That was the power that David Warner had with just one line of dialogue amidst a cast that featured not only the original cast of Star Trek on its last mission but also the likes of Christopher Plummer, Kim Cattrall, and Kurtwood Smith, to name a few.

That's all I needed for him to be recognizable after that, so when I stumbled across Tron not too long after while flipping cable channels, his role as Ed Dillinger/Sark was, of course, part of why I watched the film. That was the first time I saw him play a villain, effectively ruthless and totalitarian, as he carried out the bidding of the Master Control Program against Jeff Bridges' Kevin Flynn, which was my introduction to him as an actor.

Warner's return to Star Trek would be his most chilling role by far, this time as Gul Madred. This sadistic, twisted, and savage Cardassian interrogator spent an entire episode physically and mentally torturing Sir Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The interrogation came after a failed mission to stop a Cardassian war plot ends in his capture in the sixth season two-parter titled Chain of Command.

Again, Warner was in stellar company with the TNG cast this time, and another well-known "that guy" in Ronny Cox, who played Captain Edward Jellico in the two-parter after his iconic roles in Beverly Hills Cop, Total Recall, and RoboCop.

However, Warner stole the show in Chain of Command, not just because he was breaking our beloved Captain Picard, but because of how he carried himself while he did it. As any Trekkie will tell you, there are FOUR lights, no matter how much Madred wanted Picard to say five. His pursuit of getting Picard to bend to his sadistic will is chilling, sinister, and an evil performance for the ages.

It was around this time that kids got to know Warner a bit as Professor Jordan Perry in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, and while fans debate the subjective quality of that film at times, Warner is without question the most substantial presence in the movie, regardless of how the studio wrote his character or the movie.

Then he made his mark on a generation of Batman fans as the powerful voice actor of Ra's Al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins, one of Batman's most cunning and personal villains in his rogues' gallery. All of us can hear Warner's voice speaking the word "Detective" right now, his title for the Dark Knight himself that he uttered effortlessly in a masterful role across several episodes of Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, and Batman Beyond.

David Warner's filmography in movies and TV goes well beyond Star Trek, Tron, and the DC Animated Universe. It even stretches into Titanic, where he played Spider Lovejoy, the henchman and valet of Billy Zane's Cal Hockley, that tried to kill Leo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson before drowning himself in the wreckage of the disaster.

Warner's acting career spanned six decades across theater, film, and TV. He appeared in everything from franchises like Doctor Who, Spider-Man, and Scooby-Doo, to classic projects like Murder, She Wrote, Perry Mason, and Frankenstein. He appeared in Twin Peaks, Babylon 5, Gargoyles, Freakazoid, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Tales from the Crypt, and even played Jor-El in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He also recorded numerous audio dramas and lent his voice to a few video games in his career.

If you've watched movies and TV your whole life, odds are you've seen David Warner in something, and his career impacted your life as a fan. To say that his work and professionalism have affected my life would be a massive understatement. He was a significant part of not only my favorite comic book franchise, DC but also my favorite franchise of all time, Star Trek. As sad as I am for his passing on, I am grateful for the legacy of incredible work he left us because even if people never knew him by name, they knew who he was and what he did on screen and on stage.

RIP, Mr. Warner. You were indeed a master of your craft in all forms.