David Warner Dies: Veteran British Actor And ‘Titanic’ Star Was 80

David Warner, the veteran British actor, and star of Hollywood hits such as Titanic and The Omen, has died aged 80.

Warner died on Sunday at Denville Hall, a care home for members of the entertainment industry from “a cancer-related illness,” the BBC first reported. The actor’s family confirmed the news “with an overwhelmingly heavy heart” in a statement to the outlet. 

“Over the past 18 months he approached his diagnosis with a characteristic grace and dignity,” the statement read. 

“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.”

Born in Manchester, England, in July 1941, Warner studied at the prestigious British drama school the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and first won acclaim for his titular role opposite Vanessa Redgrave in the 1966 British film Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment for which he was nominated for a BAFTA. 

In 1981, Warner, whose varied career spanned cinema, theater, and television, won a Supporting Actor Emmy for his performance as a Roman senator in the ABC miniseries Masada.

Warner’s big screen credits include the popular 1970s horror flick The Omen – he played a reporter who runs afoul of the devil and, in a memorable scene, is beheaded by a sheet of glass – and James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic, in which he played Spicer Lovejoy, Billy Zane’s mischievous enforcer. 

Other film credits include Tron (1982), Time Bandits (1981), The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), and The Man with Two Brains (1983) as well as such TV series as Penny Dreadful, Ripper Street, Doctor Who and Twin Peaks. He portrayed Bob Cratchit in the George C Scott TV adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1984).

His most recent credits include Disney’s 2018 remake Mary Poppins Return. Warner also starred in several Star Trek productions. 

Warner is survived by his partner Lisa Bowerman, son Luke, daughter-in-law Sarah, and his first wife Harriet.