Joe Turkel dead: The Shining and Blade Runner actor dies ‘peacefully’ aged 94

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Joe Turkel, a character actor who starred in Stanley Kubrick’s films The Killing, Paths of Glory, and The Shining, has died at the age of 94. Turkel was also a WWII veteran who served in the US Army. 

Turkel also starred in The Blade Runner as Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the android manufacturer.

In The Shining, he played Lloyd, the ghostly bartender opposite Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance. 

His representatives told Express.co.uk he passed away peacefully at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, with his sons Craig and Robert by his side on Monday, June 27, 2022. 

Turkel was born July 15, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York. 

At age 17, he enlisted in the Merchant Marines and then joined the United States Army and saw active wartime service in Europe. 

He moved to California in 1947 to pursue an acting career, and landed his first credited film work in City Across the River (1948) the following year. 

Turkel would go on to star in productions including ky King, Frontier Doctor, Bat Masterson, The Asphalt Jungle, Mackenzie’s Raiders, Kojak, Tales from the Darkside, The Lone Ranger, S.W.A.T, Adam-12, Ironside, The Andy Griffith Show, Ben Casey, The Untouchables, Dragnet, and Miami Vice.

His obituary described him as “fun and easy to get along with”. 

“He loved laughter and never shied away from signing autographs for fans,” it read.

“He had a knack for running into people he knew, no matter where he travelled. 

“His warmth and magnetic personality made him a beloved, familiar figure in Santa Monica where he made his home since the early 90s.” 

The touching tribute continued: “Joe was a gifted teller of tales from his long and colourful life; from boyhood in the Great Depression, to wartime experiences as a teenage soldier, to his long and productive career onscreen and those he worked with. 

“He had a lifelong love affair with baseball and the New York Yankees. 

“He brought his passion for the game to the West LA Little League grandstands where he watched his sons play, then Santa Monica Little League to cheer for his grandson. 

“Until his health prevented him from driving long distances, he loved watching horse races and the pageantry of thoroughbred racing at Santa Anita Park with many of his Hollywood Star friends.” 

Turkel is survived by his two sons and daughters-in-law Craig and Annie Turkel, Robert and Casilde Sesti, and his brother David Turkel. 

He was said to have been devoted to his two grandchildren, Ben and Sarah. 

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