SHANE RIMMER

(28 May 1929 - 29 March 2019)

The Canadian actor and writer Shane Rimmer, who has died aged 89, emigrated to the UK in the 1950s and worked here for the rest of his life. Although his face would be familiar to many filmgoers and TV watchers, he may well be remembered for his voice-over work, in particular on Thunderbirds and other Gerry Anderson puppet series. He was the voice of Scott Tracy on Thunderbirds (1965) on TV and for the features Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbirds 6, was various characters’ voices in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and Space: 1999. He also co-wrote  some episodes of Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet. In Canada he was a cabaret singer and then worked on TV for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He made his film debut in Sidney J. Furie’s first film, A Dangerous Age (1957), then appeared in Flaming Frontier with Bruce Bennett and Jim Davis. Moving to the UK, he worked on Armchair Theatre for ABC TV and then for Stanley Kubrick in Dr Strangelove... Umpteen television shows followed from then and for the rest of his career and a new Thunderbirds series for its 50th anniversary in 2015. Other films in which Shane Rimmer appeared include You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die (voice only), S*P*Y*S, Rollerball, The ‘Human’ Factor, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Star Wars IV, Silver Bears, The People That Time Forgot, The Spy Who Loved Me, Superman I, II and III, The Dogs of War, Priest of Love, Reds, Gandhi, The Hunger, Out of Africa, Whoops Apocalypse, A Kiss Before Dying (1991), Batman Begins etc. Never a star or leading man, Shane Rimmer always brought something extra to a role, be it comedy or drama, and he made a good living out of being on the perimeter or just on the soundtrack. He was married to Sheila G. Logan and they have three children. In 2014 Shame Rimmer published a novel, Long Shot, following his autobiography, From Thunderbirds to Pterodactyls.

MICHAEL DARVELL