Malcolm Tierney

Malcolm Tierney (25 February 1938 – 18 February 2014 ) was an English actor who appeared in many stage, film and television roles.

Early life Tierney's father, Ernest, was a boilermaker and trained draughtsman from Warrington, who worked at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. His mother, Agnes, née Kennedy, worked in the cotton mills. In science fiction, he appeared, uncredited, as the Imperial officer Shann Childsen who questions the disguised Luke Skywalker and Han Solo on what they are doing with Chewbacca in Star Wars in 1977, and guested in the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord (Terror of the Vervoids) in 1986.

Tierney appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974–75 and 2005. In 1974 he played Claudio in Measure for Measure. In 2007 he played Dr Hugo Eckener in the docudrama Hindenburg: The Untold Story, which was about the crash of the airship Hindenburg and the investigation after it. This was aired for the 70th anniversary of the disaster.

In 2008 Tierney played Captain Smith of the RMS Titanic in the docudrama Titanic: The Unsinkable Ship.

On radio, Tierney played Commander Brill-Oudener in the BBC Radio drama The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico, originally transmitted in May 2010.

Personal life

Tierney once shared a flat with Tom Baker, who is best known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor in the BBC TV series Doctor Who. In 1979, Tierney married Andrea Schinko, an Austrian artist who survives him with their two daughters: Elsa, an artist, and Anna, an actress.

Death

Tierney died on 18 February 2014, aged 75 of pulmonary fibrosis. Vanessa Redgrave wrote in his obituary of a "loving man" and a "brilliant actor". He is buried in Highgate Cemetery, London.