# More on 2001: A Space Odyssey
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-2001-a-space-odyssey/1024866
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 15, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-2001-a-space-odyssey/1024866 "2025-11-15T03:16:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-2001-a-space-odyssey/1024866/1 "2025-11-15T03:16:56Z")
Since this thread was closed: [2001: A Space Odyssey](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997)
Just came across this 2018 _NYT_ article about Douglas Rain, the voice of HAL (who died later that year): [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/movies/hal-2001-a-space-odyssey-voice-douglas-rain.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/movies/hal-2001-a-space-odyssey-voice-douglas-rain.html)
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-2001-a-space-odyssey/1024866/2 "2025-11-15T13:17:16Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Just came across this 2018 _NYT_ article about Douglas Rain, the voice of HAL (who died later that year): [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/movies/hal-2001-a-space-odyssey-voice-douglas-rain.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/movies/hal-2001-a-space-odyssey-voice-douglas-rain.html)
Stanley Kubrick is supposed to have said once that, since he used Rain’s voice alone in 2001, he’d like to feature him in a non-speaking role in some other movie, As far as I know, he never did. If he did (like putting him in a crowd scene in _Barry Lyndon_), he never spoke about it. But, of course, Rain got to voice HAL 9000 in the non-Kubrick sequel, _2010_.
Also, according to his Wikipedia entry:
> He also briefly parodied it in a sketch on _[Second City Television](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_City_Television "Second City Television")_ where [Merv Griffin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv_Griffin "Merv Griffin") (played by [Rick Moranis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Moranis "Rick Moranis")) takes [his talk show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merv_Griffin_Show "The Merv Griffin Show") into outer space.[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Rain#cite_note-10)
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### Author:  [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-2001-a-space-odyssey/1024866/3 "2025-11-15T13:54:52Z")
Douglas Rains also did computer voices in Woody Allen’s film Sleeper.