Douglas James Rain (May 9, 1928 – November 11, 2018) was a Canadian actor. Although primarily a stage actor, he is best known for voicing HAL 9000, the supercomputer in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and its sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984). He co-founded the Stratford Festival, and was nominated for a Tony Award for the Broadway play Vivat! Vivat Regina!.
Early life Rain was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Scottish parents Mary and James Rain. His father was a rail yard switchman and his mother was a nurse. His parents emigrated to Canada from Glasgow, Scotland.
He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Manitoba in 1950, then studied acting at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta and the Old Vic Theatre School in London, England.
Career Rain was a founding member of the Stratford Festival of Canada in 1953 and was associated with it as an actor until 1998.
He performed a wide variety of theatrical roles, such as a production of Henry V staged in Stratford, Ontario, that was adapted for television in 1966. In 1972, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for his performance in Vivat! Vivat Regina!
Voice of the HAL 9000 computer Stanley Kubrick cast Rain as the voice of the HAL 9000 computer for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) after hearing his narration of a short documentary titled Universe and later chose him as "the creepy voice of HAL". Rain produced all of his lines during the post-production, in a ten-hour recording session over two days with Kubrick in London. He did not think the recording session went well, later saying: "If you could have been a ghost at the recording you would have thought it was a load of rubbish."Gerry Flahive, "The Story of a Voice: HAL in '2001' Wasn’t Always So Eerily Calm", New York Times, March 30, 2018. In the film, his voice was sometimes processed with an electronic device called the Eltro information rate changer. In an interview with the New York Times in 2018, Rain said that he had never seen the movie.
Rain reprised the role for the sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984). He also briefly parodied it in a sketch on Second City Television where Merv Griffin (played by Rick Moranis) takes his talk show into outer space.
Personal life and death Rain was married twice, first to Lois Shaw and then to Martha Henry, who was also an actress on stage, film and television, and had three children and a grandchild. He died of natural causes on November 11, 2018, at the age of 90, at St. Mary's Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, Ontario.
Filmography
Films YearTitleRoleNotes1956Christmas in the Market PlaceJoeyTV film1957Oedipus RexMessenger1960The HillJesus1960UniverseNarratorShort film1961One Plus OneSegment: The Divorcee1961William Lyon Mackenzie: A Friend to His CountryWilliam Lyon MackenzieShort film (documentary)1961Robert Baldwin: A Matter of PrincipleWilliam Lyon MackenzieShort film (documentary)1964Twelfth NightTV film1964Fields of SacrificeNarratorShort film (documentary)1966Henry VHenry VTV film19682001: A Space OdysseyHAL 9000Voice1973The Russian-German WarNarratorDocumentary1974The Man Who Skied Down EverestNarratorDocumentary19842010: The Year We Make ContactHal 9000Voice1985Love and LarcenyAshton FletcherTV film
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1960Just MaryVoice1960The Night They Killed Joe HoweJoseph Howe1963The Other ManDavid HendersonMiniseries1971Talking to a StrangervoiceMiniseries1976One Canadian: The Political Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. John G. DiefenbakerNarratorDocumentary1982SCTVHAL 9000Voice
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