Douglas Rain, the Canadian-born actor best known as the voice of HAL 9000 in “2001: A Space Odyssey” and its sequel “2010: The Year We Made Contact,” died Sunday at St. Marys Memorial Hospital in St. Mary’s, Ontario, according to CTV News. He was 90.
“Canadian theatre has lost one of its greatest talents and a guiding light in its development,” Stratford Festival artistic director Antoni Cimolino said in a release.
“Douglas Rain was that rare artist: an actor deeply admired by other actors. 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.”