Prolific character actor Joe Turkel, best known for playing creepy bartender Lloyd in “The Shining” and the eccentric replicant creator in “Blade Runner,” has died, his publicist Diane Thirbert said.
Turkel, 94, died Monday at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Califorina, with his sons Craig and Robert by his side, Thirbert said.
A Stanley Kubrick favorite, Turkel starred in three of the director’s films, starting with his 1956 classic “The Killing.” He appeared as Pvt. Pierre Arnaud, a soldier headed to the firing squad, in the 1957 film “Paths of Glory.”
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Playing the deserted Overlook Hotel’s ghostly bartender Lloyd in 1980’s “The Shining,” Turkel gave a chilling, iconic performance while serving Jack Nicholson’s unraveling author drinks from behind the haunted bar.
Turkel starred as Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the eccentric creator of replicants in Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic “Blade Runner,” who comforted doomed replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) by saying, “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” Batty responded by crushing his skull with his hands.
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Born in Brooklyn on July 15, 1927, Turkel joined the army at age 17, serving in Europe during World War II. After the war, he moved to California to pursue an acting career that would last through four decades.
Turkel worked in over 100 projects, including films such as “King Rat,” “The Sand Pebbles,” “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” and his final film, “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
On TV, he appeared in episodes of popular shows such as “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” “The Lone Ranger,” “S.W.A.T,” “Adam-12,” “Ironside” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Ben Casey,” “The Untouchables,” “Dragnet” “Miami Vice” and “Bonanza.”
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In Turkel’s obituary, his family describes him as “a gifted teller of tales from his long and colorful life; from boyhood in the Great Depression, to wartime experiences as a teenage soldier, to his long and productive career onscreen and those he worked with.”
“Friends and neighbors knew Joe as fun and easy to get along with. He loved laughter and never shied away from signing autographs for fans,” the obituary says. “He had a knack for running into people he knew, no matter where he traveled. His warmth and magnetic personality made him a beloved, familiar figure in Santa Monica where he made his home since the early 90s.”
The actor’s family said Turkel completed a memoir titled “The Misery of Success” just before his death. They plan to release it later this year.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Turkel, ‘The Shining’ and ‘Blade Runner’ star, dies at 94
