The versatile British character actor Damien Thomas was born in the town of Ismailia, situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal in Egypt. After relocating to London, he trained for acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1966. That same year, he made his theatrical debut as Flamineo in John Webster's 17th century play The White Devil. He subsequently also performed at London's Old Vic and with the New Shakespeare Company.
Thomas first graced the screen in 1968. He was, thereafter, cast in a wide variety of ethnic roles, ranging from Middle Easterners and Spaniards to Dutchmen and Russians. He is perhaps best remembered as the gleefully satanic Count Karnstein in Hammer's classic vampire film Draculas Hexenjagd (1971). His other prominent roles have included the cursed Prince Kassim in Ray Harryhausen's production of Sindbad und das Auge des Tigers (1977), the unfortunate musician Mark Smeaton, executed by the king for adultery in Heinrich VIII und seine sechs Frauen (1972), the Jesuit priest and translator Martin Alvito in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries Shogun (1980), a ruthless Spanish sea captain, Don Alfonso de la Torre, chief antagonist in Roman Polanski's swashbuckler Piraten (1986), and Agrippa, last king of Judea, in the six-part American/Italian period drama Anno Domini - Kampf der Märtyrer (1985). Thomas also made guest appearances in such diverse TV shows as Fahndung: Van der Valk ermittelt (1972), Blake's 7 (1978), Dempsey & Makepeace (1985), Die Wiederkehr von Sherlock Holmes (1986) (as a murder victim), Ein Kartenhaus (1990) and Zorro - Der schwarze Rächer (1990).
Damien Thomas died on April 18 2025, a week after his 83rd birthday.
