Keir Dullea makes composure worth watching: a steady voice and controlled movement can suggest a man keeping much to himself. Kubrick puts that restraint to exceptional use in 2001: A Space Odyssey, though it can leave us at a distance.
Fi1m perspective
Keir Dullea keeps his voice steady as Dr. David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), leaving us to search for signs of what the man feels. We learn his professional manner much more readily than we get to know him. That is a limitation, but Dullea's restraint serves Stanley Kubrick's unsettling film exceptionally well. His precise physical control makes the composure convincing. There is no effort to make this astronaut agreeable company, and we do not need him to be.
His earlier casting helps explain why that reserve need not mean a lack of feeling. David and Lisa (1962), in which he played David Clemens, brought him notice for a sensitive portrayal; introspective young men became familiar territory. Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) also preceded Kubrick's film, so Bowman was a turn within an established screen career rather than its beginning. He makes sense as a casting choice for a director who needs us to watch a character closely without expecting to be told everything he feels.
We felt uneasy watching 2001 because Douglas Rain's HAL 9000 offered a stronger sense of another mind at work than either human lead. Rain's carefully measured voice invites trust, while Dullea and Gary Lockwood, as Dr. Frank Poole, are deliberately less welcoming. Dullea lets that comparison stand without trying to win our affection back. Kubrick gets something valuable from an actor prepared to remain difficult to read. It helps make a slow film absorbing, even when its human company remains remote.
The later career gives us reason to look beyond Bowman, without pretending that our enthusiasm rests equally on everything Dullea has done. He played Don Baker in the Broadway production of Butterflies Are Free (1969), and theatre became a substantial part of his working life. His screen work included Peter in Black Christmas (1974) and a return as Bowman in Peter Hyams's 2010 (1984). Treating everything after Kubrick as an afterthought would mean overlooking that sustained commitment to the stage. Start with 2001, but watch Dullea as closely as you listen to HAL.
Biography
Keir Dullea is an American actor. He was born on 30 May 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in New York City's Greenwich Village, where his parents ran a bookstore. He studied at Rutgers University and San Francisco State University before training at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Dullea is best known for portraying astronaut Dr. David Bowman in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and its sequel 2010 (1984). His other film roles include David and Lisa (1962), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) and Black Christmas (1974). He has worked extensively in theatre, appearing on Broadway and in regional productions, and has said he prefers stage work despite his film recognition. He has also appeared in television series including Law & Order and Castle.
