Henry Silva, the actor who hobnobbed with people from Frank Sinatra to Kevin Conroy, has passed away at 95.
The performer, whose credits include The Manchurian Candidate and Ocean’s Eleven amongst 140 roles, died of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital on September 14, 2022.
Henry’s Journey Through Stage and Screen
The New York native, born on September 23, 1926, dropped out of school to begin drama classes at the age of 13. In 1950, he appeared on TV shows Lights Out and Armstrong Circle Theatre. Then, in 1953, he made his Broadway debut in Tennessee Williams’s Camino Real.
He was a television and movie presence throughout the 50s. Notable credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mafia, The Naked Kiss, The Hills Run Red, as well as television shows Mission: Impossible, I Spy, and The Danny Thomas Hour. He was also known for playing the title character in Johnny Cool.
Henry then opened the 60s with a role in the original Ocean’s Eleven alongside Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack. The three decades that followed saw his career populated with projects such as The Italian Connection, The Outer Limits, Tough Cop, Buck Rogers in The 25th Century, Contract on Cherry Street, Cannonball Run II, Above The Law, and Dick Tracy. His final onscreen appearance was a cameo in the 2001 remake of Ocean’s Eleven starring George Clooney as Sinatra’s successor to the role of Danny Ocean.
Playing a villain in the Warren Beatty adaptation of Dick Tracy is not the only notable antagonist in his repertoire, however. He was also a welcome member to the DCAU family. He provided the voice of Bane in the season opener of The Adventures of Batman And Robin, the continuation of Batman: The Animated Series which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
He would reprise the role twice in 1996’s The New Batman Adventures in the shocking episode “Over The Edge,” and his third final time in the role was in the second season of Superman: The Animated Series in the episode “Knight Time.” He would later be succeeded by Hector Elizondo in 2003’s DTV feature, Batman: Mystery Of The Batwoman.
Silva is survived by his partner Wendy Christenfield, and his two sons Michael and Scott Silva.
Official Source – Henry Silva, Johnny Cool and Batman: The Animated Series Actor, Dies at 95 (comicbook.com)
