Tony Pankhurst, actor and face of The Dark Pictures Anthology's Curator, has died

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Pankhurst appeared in every installment of The Dark Pictures' first season.

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Tony Pankhurst, the UK actor best known for being the face of The Curator in Supermassive Games' The Dark Pictures Anthology, has passed away aged 67.

Supermassive Games revealed the news on its Twitter account, stating "We are all saddened to hear of Tony Pankhurst's passing. He was the voice of the Curator, and we loved working with him." A tribute page set up by Pankhurst's family stated the actor passed away on May 9th.

Pankhurst appeared in every instalment of The Dark Pictures' Anthology's first season, starting with 2019's Man of Medan. The Curator is the Anthology's omniscient narrator, recording players' stories as they experience the events of each game. The Curator often speaks to the player directly, and adapts to the choices they make throughout the series' individual horror tales.

Pankhurst's likeness was used as the basis for The Curator's appearance, while the character's vocal performance and motion capture credits are attributed to another actor, Pip Torrens. Alongside the mainline entries in The Dark Pictures Anthology, Pankhurst also appeared in the live-action trailer for 2021's The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes, while the Curator also turned up in a cameo in the PSVR2 spinoff The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR.

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The first season of the Dark Pictures Anthology concluded with the release of 2022's The Devil In Me. A second season is planned, with the first entry, Directive 8020, currently in the works.

On Pankhurst's tribute page, his family described the actor as a "dedicated football fan" who supported Brighton Hove Albion FC, "a Seagull through and through." His family also said they would be "immensely grateful" for donations to 'Hospice in the Weald', who "provided such love and support" during Pankhurst's final weeks, which can be made via the tribute page. "He is much loved and will always be remembered.''

Rick Lane
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Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.