Shane Rimmer, the actor who voiced Scott Tracy in the original Thunderbirds series, has died at the age of 89.
His wife, Sheila, confirmed the news of his death to the official website of Gerry Anderson, the producer who co-created Thunderbirds.
They report that Shane died at his home in the early hours of Friday morning. No cause of death has been given.
Shane was born in Ontario, Canada, but moved to the UK when he was in his late twenties, first working as a cabaret singer, before auditioning for Thunderbirds, which began production in 1964.
He would go on to reprise the role of Scott Tracy, the pilot of Thunderbird 1, in two feature-length films, Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6, later providing voices for other Gerry Anderson shows like Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons and Joe 90.
As well as voice acting, Shane appeared in a number of cult films, including Star Wars, Dr Strangelove and Superman II.
He also holds the distinction of appearing in more James Bond films than any other actor – with the exception of cast members in recurring roles – playing small parts in The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever and Live And Let Die. However, many of these film roles were uncredited.
Shane’s final on-screen credit was in 2012, in Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s vampire-themed film Dark Shadows.
In more recent years, he turned his hand to writing, releasing the self-published novel Long Shot in 2014, as well as his autobiography, from Thunderbirds To Pterodactyls.