A founding member of the world-famous Stratford Festival has passed away.
Actor Douglas Rain, who became one of the Festival's faces, and who was known by movie audiences worldwide as the voice of the cold, calculating HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, died Sunday morning at St. Marys Memorial Hospital near Stratford. The Stratford Festival confirmed his passing in a media release, saying it was due to natural causes. He was 90.
Rain was a member of the first company at Stratford when it began in 1953. In addition to his stage work, he also appeared in film and on television.
The Winnipeg native began his career as a child actor on CBC Radio. He attended the University of Manitoba and studied in England before returning to help open the Stratford Festival. His first roles were as the Marquis of Dorset and Tyrrell in Richard III, where he also understudied the title role, played by Alec Guinness.
Rain appeared in multiple productions at Stratford over the next 45 years, but film buffs remember him most as the voice of HAL in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"The voice of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Douglas shared many of the same qualities as Kubrick’s iconic creation - precision, strength of steel, enigma and infinite intelligence, as well as a wicked sense of humour," said Stratford Festival artistic director Antoni Cimolino in a media release. "But those of us lucky enough to have worked with Douglas soon solved his riddle and discovered that at the centre of his mystery lay warmth and humanity, evidenced in his care for the young members of our profession. Douglas dedicated his talent to the stages of his native land, and we are proud in return to dedicate the coming season’s production of Othello to his memory. We owe him so much.”
Rain held roles in theatre productions in companies across Canada, the U.S. and Britain. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the 1972 Broadway production of Vivat! Vivat! Regina! as William Cecil. He held over a hundred film and television roles, as well as hundreds of radio plays, mostly with CBC.
Rain was married twice. He is survived by his two sons, David and Adam, from first wife Lois Shaw; daughter Emma from second wife Martha Henry, a granddaughter and a daughter-in-law.
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