It’s so sad that we have to hear about their unfortunate demise this close to the launch of Command & Conquer Remastered – especially how they both showed up in a Red Alert game each!
Earnest Kearney recently announced that Gene Dynarski has passed away at the age of 86, shortly after recovering from a „heart episode” at a rehabilitation centre in February. We saw the actor in Star Trek, Seinfeld, or Close Encounters of the Third Kind – however, gamers might know him from Command & Conquer: Red Alert, as he was Joseph Stalin in the game! (You can see a video of his performance below.) Interestingly, he already had the role of the Soviet leader in Master Class, David Pownall’s radio play, in 1987.
Dynarski was born in New York to Polish immigrants, and Kearney revealed that he lied about his age to join the Navy at the age of 16. In 1957, he started his acting career in California, and he learned this art in San Diego. He had abrasive and harsh diatribes (even at Steven Spielberg), but he didn’t stay that for long, as he was generous and kindhearted. Let’s hope that Command & Conquer Remastered will have lost-and-found scenes featuring him as well…
The other lost actor is Dimitri Diatchenko, who voiced mostly unnamed characters in more than thirty games. He was taken away at the age of just 52, and CNN reports that the cause of death has not been determined, but allegedly, he was recovering at home from an electric shock that he received at work on April 13. Police have found „no signs of foul play,” so the cause of death could have been natural.
Chernobyl Diaries, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Sons of Anarchy, Bones, and Alias – some of his roles in TV and films. He also was prominent in games, as well: several Call of Duty and Tomb Raider titles, Metro: Last Light, XCOM 2, The Last of Us, Fallout 4, and Company of Heroes… but he’s mostly known for being Oleg Vodnik in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.
Diatchenko was born in San Francisco to Ukrainian immigrants. He was an accomplished classical guitarist and former national Tae Kwon Do heavyweight champion, too.
May they rest in peace.
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