Actor Roy Dotrice, best known to American audiences for his brief but memorable appearance on Game of Thrones as Hallyne, died on Monday, The Guardian reports. He was 94.
Dotrice was an acclaimed stage actor, winning a Tony in 2000 for a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten. He entered the Guinness Book of World Records for greatest number of solo performances by giving 1782 performances of the one-man show Brief Lives.
He’s also a significant figure in the Game of Thrones universe.
He appeared in Season 2 of the HBO series as Hallyne the Pyromancer, who introduces wildfire, the highly destructive green chemical fire, into the field of play. He was originally cast to play Maester Pycelle, but had to back out due to health issues. The role went to Julian Glover instead. He also read the audiobooks for the Song of Ice and Fire series on which the TV series is based, and holds the Guinness World Record for most characters voiced by a single actor in an audiobook, with 223 for A Game of Thrones, the first book in the series.
His other TV credits include Picket Fences, Batman: The Animated Series and Beauty and the Beast, which is where he met A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin, who was a writer and producer on the show.
Dotrice was born May 26, 1923 on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and spent three years in German POW camps after his plane was shot down. He was married to actress Kay Newman from 1947 until her death in 2007. He is survived by three daughters, Michele, Yvettte and Karen.
