Douglas Rain , voice of the information processing system HAL 9000 in the movie 2001 : A Space Odyssey , died on Sunday morning . He was 90 years old .
conduct in Canada , Rain started on the stage and was know in both the Canadian and British theater communities for his roles in William Shakespeare ’s classic like Othello and Twelfth Night . But Rain is best know in the sci - fi community as the voice of HAL — a cold , monotone voice that immediately evokes fear in anyone who hears it .
Even if you ’ve never see Stanley Kubrick ’s classic 1967 movie , you know the celebrated substitution between the astronaut David Bowman and HAL . “ open up the pod bay doors , HAL , ” Dr. Bowman says . “ I ’m deplorable Dave , I ’m afraid I ca n’t do that , ” the HAL computing equipment replies .
If you ’ve somehow gone your entire life without hearing those famous furrow , you could watch themon YouTube .
FromNBC News :
rainwater was born in Winnipeg , Manitoba , and trained at the Old Vic Theatre in London . In 1972 , he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Drama for his public presentation as William Cecil in “ Vivat ! Vivat Regina ! ” on Broadway .
In 1953 , he became a member of the first repertory cast of the Stratford Festival and perform in 32 seasons with the companionship .
accord to Vincent Lobrutto ’s 1997 study “ Stanley Kubrick : A life , ” Rain was initially compact to narrate “ 2001″ after Kubrick heard his story of the forgetful documentary “ Universe , ” which was release by the National Film Board of Canada in 1960 .
“ Today we fall back Douglas Rain , a appendage of our establish caller and a hugely esteemed presence on our stage for 32 seasons . He will be greatly missed . Our thoughts and prayers are with his crime syndicate , ” the Stratford Festival in Ontario tweetedyesterday .
RIP Douglas Rain . You give way sprightliness to a part that will dwell on for generations to come ; a character that serve well as a admonition to those of us live in “ the future . ” Sadly , we did n’t listen . Or , if we did listen , we just did n’t like . Because HAL is now becoming real . The HAL of today just go by a different name : Sometimes Siri , sometimes Alexa . And for those with a sincerely dark sense of humor , justHAL .
[ NBC NewsandNPR ]
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