Ian McNeice

Ian McNeice is a British character actor who provided the voice of Kwaltz in the Creature Shop-effects film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He also appeared as Col. Kitchener in Around the World in 80 Days, for which the Creature Shop supplied additional digital effects.

McNeice has been active in film and television since the late 1970s, and gained attention in the US as foil to Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). Other film credits include Top Secret!, Funny Bones, A Life Less Ordinary, No Escape, Bridget Jones; The Edge of Reason, and The Black Dahlia. He played the villainous Baron Harkonen in the mini-series Dune (2000) and its sequel Children of Dune (2003). A familiar face in Dickens adaptations, McNeice has played Wackford Squeers and others in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982), Mr. Dick in David Copperfield (1999), Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol (1999), Recently, he recurred on the HBO series Rome as the news reader, announcing the decisions of the senate.