Douglas Rain, voice of HAL in ‘2001,’ dead at 90

Nov. 12 (UPI) — Douglas Rain, a theater actor known for voicing the HAL 9000 computer in director Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died at the age of 90.

Rain’s death was confirmed by The Stratford Festival on Twitter Sunday. The Stratford Festival is a Canadian theater company that the actor was a founding member of in 1953.

The cause of death was not reported.

“Today we lost Douglas Rain, a member of our founding company and a hugely esteemed presence on our stages for 32 seasons. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family,” the Stratford Festival said alongside photos of Rain.

Rain’s HAL 9000 is a classic movie villain. He returned to the role of HAL in a 1984 sequel to 2001 titled 2010. He also voiced an evil computer in Woody Allen’s 1973 comedy Sleeper and narrated the 1975 Oscar-winning documentary The Man Who Skied Everest.

Rain appeared in multiple plays and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1972 for his performance as William Cecil in Vivat! Vivat Regina! on Broadway.

He is survived by his sons David and Adam and granddaughter Salima