RIP David Warner, Voice of Ra's al Ghul in the DCAU

[RoyalRubble]

David Warner passed away at the age of 80. Throughout his career he played numerous roles in movies and theater plays, and also did some voice acting as well.

Notably for this forum, Warner was the voice of Ra's al Ghul in various DCAU shows, starting with Batman: TAS back in 1992. He would reprise this role in other shows such as Superman TAS or Batman Beyond. I thought he sounded great and managed to add a certain charm to this character.

Another "minor" role reprisal for DC Animation would be him voicing the Lobe, a villain from Freakazoid!, who returned in an episode of Teen Titans Go!. Similar in a way to Ed Asner, who also reprised his role as Cosgrove between the two shows and also passed away last year.

All of this is just a small part of Warner's extensive filmography, but important and entertaining nevertheless.

 

[Frontier]

He had such a memorable voice and such sheer charisma, and he really added such an air of sophistication and gravity to whatever characters he played, and to me he will always be the definitive Ra's Al Ghul.

RIP David Warner.

 

[Fone Bone]

I always thought he was a lot older than 80. In his roles in the 1980's and 1990's he looked like he was in his 60's.

RIP

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

A wonderful and highly underrated actor that produced many excellent performances in his career. Of course, for me, he'll always be Ra's Al Ghul. The first and best to play the part. No one said "detective" quite like David Warner.

R.I.P

I think I'll watch 'The Demon's Quest' tonight in tribute.

 

[ABrown]

He was so amazing in Batman: The Animated Series. He's a big reason why Ra's has become my favorite Batman villian.

 

[Revelator]

From a long AVClub interview:

AVC: Several readers mentioned your performance as Ra’s Al Ghul.

DW: Yes, I find a lot of people mention that one. And there’s another one called Baldur’s Gate, I believe, which is a game. The problem is that I’ve never heard any of these. I don’t watch cartoons, and I don’t have a cartoon channel on my television. I love doing them, but I’ve not seen them. That’s the problem! But I’m very glad that there are a lot of fans of them, and I certainly respect that. You’ll just have to pass along my apologies that I can’t remember more about them!

For those who enjoy Shakespeare, do check out Warner's portrayal of Henry VI in The Wars of the Roses, a televised version (now on DVD) of a theatrical super-production of Shakespeare's first cycle of history plays. Warner is very moving as the King and shows he was equally effective at playing heroes as villains.

 

[Rick Jones]

Darn, I was just singing his praises just a couple of weeks ago when someone sent me the link to the modern Tron trailer on YouTube. He was a good one.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Raider969]

I was surprised when I found out about this. He was the best Ra's al Ghul. Rest in piece David Warner.

 

[Eldorado]

I never guessed he had cancer! A shame, I always imagined that if I had my own cartoon show he would be one of the main characters. But now that's not gonna happen because of two reasons, the other reason is that my show idea somewhat became Disney's Villains of Valley View.

 

[cheril59]

You may notice he had some tenderness in him narrating a few Winnie the Pooh projects. But I know he was the first voice for Nergal for Billy & Mandy.

 

[the_joker]

So many actors from Batman: TAS are gone now. For one thing, those keep reminding me about the show's age as well as my own by extension. Thankfully, they'll live on through their work, but that also means they won't be able to reprise their iconic roles.

R.I.P. David Warner

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

A terrific actor with a long career. I know him best as Ra's al Ghul and the Arch-Mage, but I had no idea he also voiced Nergal, and until most recently, Rob in The Amazing World of Gumball. May he rest in peace.

 

[jkoolpe]

Sad news indeed. I still remember to this day the very first appearance of Ra's al Ghul on BTAS as I watched the original (first) airing of "Off Balance" when he made the brief cameo appearance at the episode's conclusion.

When I heard Mr. Warner's voice behind Ra's, I remember recognizing it immediately and practically leaping out of my seat thinking how absolutely perfect his voice was for the character.

And then when "Demon's Quest" aired a couple of months later with Ra's of course as the star villain, again, the entire episode had me at the edge of my seat with a large part of that thrill being Mr. Warner's voice again behind the character.

RIP Mr. Warner, and my best to his family and friends.

Jon

 

[Otaku-sempai]

When Ra's al Ghul was originally introduced, back when mastodons still roamed the Earth, I imagined him being played by Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing. When I first heard David Warner as Ra's, I thought that "this is another actor who could play Ra's al Ghul in a live-action film". Rest well, Mr. Warner.

 

[Road to Gotham]

Rest In Peace.
Warner did alot of good acting.
Watch this as a tribute this morning.