# Professor Falken dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139 "2011-08-09T23:28:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/1 "2011-08-09T23:28:59Z")
[http://www.playbill.com/news/article/153515-John-Wood-Tony-Winning-British-Actor-Dies-at-81](http://www.playbill.com/news/article/153515-John-Wood-Tony-Winning-British-Actor-Dies-at-81) He had a lot more on his resume, but I suspect that for a fair many of us, his role as Joshua’s father is his best-known. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/2 "2011-08-09T23:33:01Z")
I have no idea who Professor Falken was, but if you’d just have said **John Wood** I’d have known instantly. I saw him on the Broadway stage as Sherlock Holmes in the 1970s revival of Gillette’s play, and I saw him in **WarGames** and **LadyHawke** (where he played the evil Archbishop), as well, and in a great many other roles. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/3 "2011-08-09T23:38:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I have no idea who Professor Falken was, but if you’d just have said **John Wood** I’d have known instantly. I saw him on the Broadway stage as Sherlock Holmes in the 1970s revival of Gillette’s play, and I saw him in **WarGames** and **LadyHawke** (where he played the evil Archbishop), as well, and in a great many other roles. Professor Falken was his character in _War Games_. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/4 "2011-08-09T23:57:17Z")
I’m getting old. I immediately recognized the name “Professor Falken”. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/5 "2011-08-10T01:48:20Z")
It’s OK. I’m young and I still know Professor Falken. That movie holds up better than many from that era. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/6 "2011-08-11T14:42:07Z")
Well, he’s gone, and the casting directors can try again. Maybe with the bees. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/7 "2011-08-11T15:19:29Z")
Do you want to play a game? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/8 "2011-08-11T15:33:49Z")
It was “Shall we play a game?” Now I have to watch _WarGames_. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/9 "2011-08-11T16:09:51Z")
Well that falken sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/10 "2011-08-11T17:07:54Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > It was “Shall we play a game?” > > Now I have to watch _WarGames_. ☹ The scene where they’re rushing to catch the last ferry to go see Professor Falken was shot just a few miles from where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/11 "2011-08-11T18:32:34Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I’m getting old. I immediately recognized the name “Professor Falken”. You and me both, I never would have known who he was with his real name, yet from the tread title I knew right away. Time for some Tic-Tac-Toe. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/12 "2011-08-11T18:36:31Z")
When Wargames came out, many reviews singled out his performance as bad. I didn’t agree. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/13 "2011-08-11T18:41:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The scene where they’re rushing to catch the last ferry to go see Professor Falken was shot just a few miles from where I grew up. So you were as puzzled as I about why they thought they were on an island? The Canby Ferry just goes from one side of the Willamette to the other. No island. Wood’s IMDb resume is typical for a British actor. Several top UK films like _The Madness of King George_ and _Shadowlands_ and then there’s 4th rate American crap like _Jumpin’ Jack Flash._ Sometimes you need a check. I wonder if he thought _Wargames_ was just a check. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/14 "2011-08-11T18:42:06Z")
Yeah, I thought he did a good job. Saw it again just a few years ago and it holds up pretty well. May he rest in peace. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/15 "2011-08-11T20:06:29Z")
His New York Times obit doesn’t even mention WarGames. Lots of pish-posh Shakespeare and Stoppard stuff. Hmmph. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/16 "2011-08-11T20:09:43Z")
I also remember Dabney Coleman being pretty good in that flick. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/17 "2011-08-11T20:13:01Z")
Yeah, and the guy who went on to play the grumpy ex-astronaut on _Northern Exposure_ as the top Air Force general. ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/18 "2011-08-11T20:18:42Z")
I’m sorry to hear of his passing. I have a taste for nuclear war/doomsday movies and I hate to say it, but WarGames never made the cut for me. It just seemed less than the classics of that genre (Dr Strangelove, Fail Safe, even Threads). RIP Mr Wood. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/19 "2011-08-11T21:01:33Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > So you were as puzzled as I about why they thought they were on an island? The Canby Ferry just goes from one side of the Willamette to the other. No island. Hmm, I thought that scene was supposed to take place out on the Oregon coast somewhere. It was filmed at the Steilacoom ferry terminal on Puget Sound, between Tacoma and Olympia. Ferries there go to McNeil Island, site of a recently closed federal penitentiary. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139/20 "2011-08-11T21:23:51Z")
I guess he’s gone to DeadCon 1. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-falken-dead/592139.md?page=2)