Star Trek Says Goodbye To Memorable Guest Stars David Warner And Paul Sorvino

| July 26, 2022 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 12 comments so far

On Monday sad news arrived twice with reports on the passing of actors David Warner and Paul Sorvino, both of whom had long celebrated careers and both of whom appeared in Star Trek.

RIP David Warner

The first sad news came about actor David Warner, who passed at the age of 80 at a retirement home in London. He had been battling cancer for the past two years and died just five days before what would have been his 81st birthday. The Emmy-winning actor’s career spans back to the 1960s with memorable roles in films including Cross of Iron, The Omen, Time After Time, Time Bandits, Tron, A Christmas Carol, and Titanic.

Star Trek fans will remember Warner in a number of roles starting with Federation representative St. John Talbot in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier in 1989. He returned to the film franchise two years later to play Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and in 1992, he appeared as the Gul Madred, the Cardassian who tortured Picard, in the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter “Chain of Command.”

After the news of his passing broke, TrekMovie shared our condolences on social media.

The loss of Warner was also noted by some Star Trek luminaries, including Nicholas Meyer, who directed Warner in Star Trek VI and Time After Time. Meyer’s Twitter statement noted that even though Warner was known for villainous roles, he was “the sweetest man.”

Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Picardo also said goodbye to Warner, noting he was one of the few actors he sought out for an autograph

Next Generation actor Brent Spiner also offered his thoughts, noting he was glad to have known Warner, calling him a fine actor and “lovely guy.”

Next Generation writer and producer Brannon Braga offered his thoughts on Instagram, saying he’ll remember him most as Gul Madred in “Chain of Command.”

 

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A post shared by Brannon Braga (@brannonbraga)

RIP Paul Sorvino

Warner’s passing was soon followed up with news of the death of actor Paul Sorvino. The actor passed away at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, aged 83. According to his publicist, the actor had been dealing with health issues for the past few years. The award-winning actor is known for a number of roles in film and television dating back to the 1970s, with playing gangster Paulie Cicero in the 1990 film Goodfellas possibly his most iconic. Trek fans will remember Sorvino as Worf’s brother Nikolai Rozhenko in the seventh season Next Generation episode “Homeward.”

TrekMovie also acknowledged the passing of Sorvino on our social media channels on Monday.

Sorvino was remembered by his daughter, actress Mira Sorvino (an avowed Trek fan) who said her heart was “rent asunder” by his passing.

Next Generation actor Brent Spiner also mourned Sorvino, saying he was “very talented and fun to be around.”

Spiner’s TNG co-star Gates McFadden also acknowledged the loss, calling Sorvino a “warm, very talented man.”

Voyager actor Robert Beltran offered his thoughts noting how Sorvino was a Trek fan, and he also remembered the actor’s kindness when they worked together on the 1995 film Nixon.

TrekMovie again offers our condolences to the friends and family of David Warner and Paul Sorvino.

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For some weird reason, I thought Paul Sorvino died years ago. I wonder who I was confusing for him?

I saw him on something recent and thought he had died. He worked right up till the end. Good guy.

I’d thought the same thing and had been sad about it. Brian Dennehy?

I think it was Robert Loggia. Maybe Bob Hoskins.

Positive thoughts and condolences to those marking these losses in the community.

Two great actors. RIP.

Also, Tony Dow is in hospice from cancer and really not well. He directed an episode of DS9 and was a director and VFX supervisor for Babylon 5 in seasons 4 and 5 along with a long list of other fantasy/sci-fi and comedy TV, a noted sculptor and artist.

I met him in SM a couple of times and compared notes during his years on Babylon but had a really hard time getting the image of Wally Cleaver out of my head because I never conceived of him as 5’8″ watching the reruns (me being 6’5″).

I’ve always regretted that ongoing brain fart on my part (and with others where their height was disruptive to my weak mind) because he really was an man of many accomplished artistry(ies) and just so generously nice – and he always smelled really nice too! You can’t beat that in an engineer/VFX dude!!

David Warner and Paul Sorvino were very great actors. Their times on Star Trek were memorable. They will be missed by all. RIP

Tony Dow is no longer with us. After the premature announcement on Tuesday, he did pass away on Wednesday.

Oy this is tough. Two greats indeed.

His role as the interrogator/torturer in the “Chain of Command” episode was beyond riveting.

Mr. Warner also did some fantastic voice acting for a variety of animated series through the years. For those of you who watched the 1990s Batman Animated Series, you probably already know that he was the voice of one of Batman’s most prominent villains (Ra’s al Ghul), and he could not have been more perfect for the role. I will always hear his voice when I read or see this bad guy in a Batman story. :)

He was also great as the comical “villain” called “The Lobe” for the short-lived but still very funny “Freakazoid” animated series (also from the 1990s). He had some singing numbers in this show that were hysterical!

RIP to both of these fine actors, and my condolences to the their families and friends.

RIP

Sad Week.