Douglas Rain, the Canadian voice (Winnipeg-born!) of 2001’s HAL 9000, has died.
The Winnipeg-born Canadian who provided the voice for the universe’s most conflicted computer has died.
Douglas Rain, who co-founded the Stratford Music Festival in 1952, was cast by Stanley Kubrick to be the dispassionate voice of the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Conflicted by his orders, HAL killed most of crew, leaving it up to David Bowie to disconnect him in this iconic scene.
Why did Rain/HAL sing “A Bicycle Built for Two?” Because in 1961, the IBM 7094 became the first computer to sing and that was the song engineers taught it.
RIP Douglas Rain, the chillingly calm tones of HAL 9000 in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. One of the best performances in film, with just his voice. pic.twitter.com/79Jr8iOWK6
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) November 12, 2018
BONUS: Cartman as HAL
Read more at Variety.
