- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDouglas James Rain
- Cinema lovers and sci-fi fans will always remember Douglas Rain not exactly by his face but because of his vocal talents that solidified his spot in the cinema world as the soothing voice of HAL 9000 in the classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and its sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984).
He was originally hired to provide narration for the film, which was left unused in the finished product, with Rain switching to doing the voice of the HAL 9000 computer at Kubrick's request during the recording session in London. The character had already been voiced by multiple actors at this point - including Martin Balsam - but Kubrick was not satisfied with the resulting performances, and asked Rain to play HAL instead.
In front of cameras, the Canadian actor can be found in TV series such as Startime (1959), Quest (1961), Playdate (1961), and Festival (1960); or films like Oedipus Rex (1957), Twelfth Night (1964) and the title role in Henry V (1966). On stage, his career consists of countless productions of plays by William Shakespeare - in fact, Rain was a founding member of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival and can be seen playing Richard III in a rehearsal scene in The Stratford Adventure (1954) - and other authors between the 1950s and 1990s. In 1972, he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for the play "Vivat! Vivat Regina!". In addition to this, he frequently worked in radio and did narration for documentaries such as the NFB production Universe (1960), Fields of Sacrifice (1963) or the Oscar-winning The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975).
He passed away from natural causes at the age of 90 in 2018.
- IMDb mini biography by: Rodrigo Amaro / Idridian
- SpousesMartha Henry(January 26, 1968 - 1988) (divorced, 1 child)Lois Esther Shaw(July 26, 1951 - April 3, 1964) (divorced, 2 children)
- ParentsMary Crichton McIntyreJames Rain
- He is best known as the voice of the computer, HAL 9000, in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984). Along with Keir Dullea, he is one of only two actors to appear in both films.
- In praising Douglas Rain's contribution to "2001: A Space Odyssey", Stanley Kubrick often said that he would like to direct him again - on-camera this time, but in a non-speaking role. However, they never worked together a second time.
- HAL 9000 is listed as #13 on the American Film Institute's America's Greatest Villains.
- Founding member of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival.
- Narrated a 1960 National Film Board of Canada short film called "Universe". An inspired Stanley Kubrick reportedly had seen that film nearly a hundred times and originally cast Rain to provide narration for the film before ultimately asking him to instead be the voice of HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
- It's not that I haven't wanted to do movies, it's just that I've never been approached. People seem to think that when you do classical things you can't do anything else. Well that's rubbish of course.
- It may be helping your career as an actor to be taught movement, but if you haven't got around to understanding the importance of voice, you are betrayed.
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