British actor Stephen Moore who created the role of Marvin the Paranoid Android for the cult-classic radio show Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and then reprised the role for the TV adaptation of the science fiction comedy series has died of natural causes at the age of 81.

“The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” producer Dirk Maggs confirmed Moore’s death Sturday on Twitter, writing, “Our dear friend Stephen Moore has died. A fine actor, a lovely man and the original and most iconic voice of Marvin The Paranoid Android in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. Our thoughts are with his family and our memories of him will always make us smile. RIP Stephen.”

HHGttG producer Dirk Maggs remembered Stephen Moore on Twitter.
David Dixon as Ford Prefect, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, and Stephen Moore as Marvin the Paranoid Android in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 1981 {image via the BBC}

SCIFI.radio fans are also likely to remember Moore as the heroic Silurian Eldane in the Doctor Who episode “Cold Blood,” with Matt Smith as the Doctor.

Stephen Moore as Eldane the Silurian, in Doctor Who, 2010 {image via the BBC}

Our British fans will remember him as Abednego Twite in Black Hearts in Battersea, Arthur in The Queen’s Nose, Chief Constable Mike Bishop in Mersey Beat, and George Mole in The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4. Moore was best known for his roles on British television, but also appeared in movies (The Boat That Rocked, released in the US as Pirate Radio, in radio (he voiced Professor Calculus in the radio adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin), and on stage (he was nominated for a Tony for his role as Parolles in Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well).

Stephen Vincent Moore was born December 11, 1937, in Brixton, London. He died October 4, 2019. He was married four times, and had five children. He is survived by his five children Robyn, Guy, Hedda, Charlotte and Sophie.

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Susan Macdonald
Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress ”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.