Shane Rimmer Biography
Shane Rimmer was a Canadian actor and screenwriter who made a name for himself in the United Kingdom. He was born as Shane Lance Deacon on May 28, 1929, in Toronto, Ontario.
Rimmer adopted his paternal grandmother’s maiden name and began his career on Canadian radio as a singer and disc jockey before moving on to become a television presenter.
Shane Rimmer emigrated to England in 1959, after initially performing as a cabaret singer. His first film was A Dangerous Age in 1957, and over the course of his career, he appeared in a variety of films, including Dr. Strangelove (1964), Rollerball (1975), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Gandhi (1982), Out of Africa (1985), Crusoe (1989), Spy Game (2001), and Batman Begins (2005).
One of Rimmer’s most notable collaborations was with TV producer Gerry Anderson, particularly on the series Thunderbirds (1964–1966), where he was the voice actor behind the character of Scott Tracy. Shane Rimmer also wrote scripts and provided uncredited voices for Anderson’s subsequent productions Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–68), Joe 90 (1968–69), and The Secret Service (1969).
He also appeared in episodes of the live-action series UFO (1970) and The Protectors (1972–74), and lent his voice for Space: 1999 (1975–77). Shane Rimmer also had uncredited roles in several other Bond films including You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and he was believed to have provided the voice for the character Hamilton in Live and Let Die (1973). Other uncredited blockbuster films include The Dirty Dozen (1967), Star Wars (1977), and the 1970s-80s Superman trilogy.
Apart from his work in film and television, Shane Rimmer was also a screenwriter, contributing to Thunderbirds and drafting the story for the series’ penultimate episode, Ricochet (1966). He also appeared in an episode of Danger Man and provided the voice of the title character in Dick Spanner, P.I. (1987).
Shane Rimmer was married to Sheila Logan in 1963, and the couple had three sons: Damien, Ben, and Paul. Rimmer passed away at Barnet Hospital in London on 29 March 2019, at the age of 89. His last role was in Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World of Gumball, where he played Louie Watterson from 2014 to 2019.
