David Hemblen obit

 

X-Men: The Animated Series’ Magneto, David Hemblen, Dies at 79

David Hemblen, the accomplished actor who was beloved for his iconic voice performance as Magneto in the X-Men Animated Series, has passed away

He was not on the list.

David Hemblen, the actor whose measured, distinguished performance as Magneto on X-Men: The Animated Series endeared him to a generation of fans, passed away on November 16 at the age of 79.

Hemblen was also well regarded for his performance as the Resistance leader Jonathan Doors on the first four seasons of the syndicated science fiction television series, Earth: Final Conflict (which was developed based off of ideas of Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry).

Born in England, Hemblen immigrated to Canada with his family to Canada when he was a teenager. He initially attended college in the pursuit of a classical education. He received an M.A. in English and was trying for a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies when he began acting. He was spotted in a student production by a representative of the Royal Shakespeare Company and soon, Hemblen was part of the inaugural acting company of Theatre Toronto in 1967. Among the other actors in the company were legendary Canadian actors like Barbara Hamilton, Terry Tweed and the late, great John Colicos (who would later voice Apocalypse alongside Hemblen on X-Men: The Animated Series).

Hemblen appeared in a number of theater production and had his first regular TV gig in the short-lived 1975 Canadian TV series, The Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim, where Hemblen played an elixir peddler from the 1870s who has misadventures with a pre-teen from the 1970s who traveled through time via a magical trunk.

In 1987, Hemblen received his more prominent television role yet, as the villainous Lord Dread on the syndicated kids adventure series, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (one of J. Michael Straczynski's early successes in live action television screenwriting).

Since Hemblen was heavily covered by prosthetics as Dread, his voice had to sell the character and he successfully brought a great deal of gravitas to the villain. This likely led to his first major animated voice acting role, that of the villainous Shere Khan on The Jungle Book: The Adventures of Mowgli in 1989. Hemblen lent his voice to a number of animated series over the years.

However, he will forever be remembered for his brilliant performance as Magneto on X-Men: The Animated Series. As CBR's Gene Kendall once remarked in a review, "He isn’t a ranting lunatic or a mustache-twirling Hanna-Barbara villain; Hemblen brings integrity to the role and knows just how 'dramatic' these lines should sound. It’s very easy to imagine Hemblen’s voice when reading the dialogue Chris Claremont gave the character."

He played recurring roles in A Nero Wolfe Mystery (Lewis Hewitt) and La Femme Nikita (George). Hemblen played Reverend Buckley in Where the Spirit Lives (1989), and appeared as Christopher Newport in Pocahontas: The Legend (1999). He has also been featured in several Atom Egoyan films, such as Speaking Parts, The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Where the Truth Lies (2005), and Family Viewing (1987), for which he was nominated for a Genie Award.