Joe Turkel, ghostly bartender in 'The Shining', dies at 94

Joe Turkel, a character actor best known for his multiple collaborations with legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner', has died at the age of 94. 

A representative told Variety that he died at Santa Monica, California's St. John’s Hospital on Monday.

Turkel's best-known film performance is most likely in Kubrick's Stephen King adaptation 'The Shining'. Turkel plays the role of ghostly bartender Lloyd, who attracts Jack Nicholson's unstable main character Jack Torrance back to alcohol. 

Born to Polish-Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, Turkel was a veteran of World War II as a US Army soldier. He made his film debut in 1949's Maxwell Shane directorial noir crime film titled 'City Across the River'.

He and Kubrick first worked together in 1956's The Killing. Kubrick next directed him in the 1957 anti-war film 'Paths of Glory'.

In 1982's iconic science-fiction film 'Blade Runner', Turkel played the role of Eldon Tyrell, the creator of replicants (a bioengineered humanoid serving as slaves in the futuristic world of the film) and the head of Tyrell Corporation.

Veteran actor Michael McKean, known for 'Better Call Saul' paid tribute to Turkel on Twitter. "Joe Turkel was always very good, but his performance in Paths of Glory, in a cast filled with great ones, is a subtle and brilliant standout. RIP," he wrote.