Damien Thomas, Actor in ‘Twins of Evil’ at Hammer Films, Dies at 83

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It is with sadness that we report the passing of Damien Thomas, a renowned British actor, at the age of 83. He gained significant recognition for his portrayal of the vampire Count Karnstein opposite Peter Cushing in the Hammer Films horror masterpiece, Twins of Evil.

I, Thomas, took my last breath on the 18th of April, surrounded by love at Salisbury Hospice in Wilshire, England. For some time, I had been waging a tough fight against progressive supranuclear palsy, and now it’s time for me to rest. This information was shared by my daughter, Phoebe Court-Thomas, with The Hollywood Reporter.

Thomas starred as Father Alvito, the Portuguese priest, opposite Richard Chamberlain in the critically acclaimed miniseries “Shogun” on NBC back in 1980. He also took on the chilling role of Richard Mason in a BBC adaptation of “Jane Eyre,” which aired in 1983 and featured Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton as the main characters.

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Thomas portrayed Father Alvito, a Portuguese priest, alongside Richard Chamberlain in the popular miniseries “Shogun” for NBC in 1980. He also starred as the mysterious Richard Mason in a BBC adaptation of “Jane Eyre,” which was headlined by Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton in 1983.

Thomas additionally played a harsh ship’s officer in Roman Polanski’s Pirates (1986), with Walter Matthau as the lead. When the movie flopped at the box office, he admitted to feeling responsible and shared that the incident severely affected his self-belief, as he reflected on it in 2013.

After rewatching the film years later, he came to understand that it wasn’t him portrayed on screen at all. Strangely enough, his performance wasn’t as terrible as he initially thought. On the contrary, the film’s main flaw was Walter Matthau’s portrayal of Captain Red. He adopted a Cockney accent for the role, but it felt forced and sluggish. This slow delivery significantly slowed the pace of the pirate movie, which was unexpected.

Thomas found himself an untrained newcomer, having never stepped foot in a film studio, when he was chosen to play The Count in the 1971 film Twins of Evil, which was directed by John Hough at Pinewood Studios and served as the final installment of what’s known as the “Karnstein Trilogy.

In the movie, there’s a struggle between his personality and the character portrayed by Gustav Weil (played by Cushing). The film also includes the actresses Madeleine and Mary Collinson, who are identical twins and were once Playboy Playmates.

He said he played lots of ethnicities, including French, Greek and Italian, during his career.

Thomas was born on April 11, 1942, in Ismailia, Egypt. He pursued his acting studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he won two scholarships and graduated at the young age of 25, receiving the principal’s medal. His first television appearance was on the Hammer anthology series Journey to the Unknown (1968), which aired on ITV in the U.K. and ABC in the U.S., marking his debut. His first big-screen role was in Julius Caesar (1970), alongside acting greats like John Gielgud, Charlton Heston, and Jason Robards.

Thomas’ cinematic portfolio encompassed “Henry VIII and His Six Wives” (1972), “Tiffany Jones” (1973), “The Message” (1976), the film “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger” by Ray Harryhausen, where he played Kassim prior to the prince’s transformation into an ape, “Never Let Me Go” (2010), “Kill List” (2011), and lastly, “The Limehouse Golem” (2016).

Additionally, he gained prominence during the early ’80s through his roles in BBC miniseries like “The Talisman” and “Beau Geste,” as well as the 1985 BBC telefilm “Tenko Reunion.” Notably, he appeared on several episodes of both “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” and “Poirot.

He leaves behind his wife Julia, as well as his children Dominic (Dom), Maud, and Phoebe, and his three stepchildren, Kirsty, Hannah, and Gabriel (Gabe).

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2025-04-28 00:54