The British physicist and cosmologist, who died on March 14, was not only a best-selling author but an unmistakable figure in pop culture. A brief history of how that happened.
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Stephen Hawking in popular culture
The British physicist and cosmologist, who died on March 14, was not only a best-selling author, but an unmistakable figure of pop culture. Here are a few works that made him a rock star.
Image: Focus Features/Liam Daniel
'A Brief History of Time' (1991)
Inspired by Hawking's 1988 best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time," in which the scientist presented his theories on cosmology, the title of this documentary by director Errol Morris rather portrays the scientist's life. It also features music by minimalist composer Philip Glass.
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'Star Trek: The Next Generation' (1993)
In the TV series which ran from 1987 to 1994, Hawking appeared as his own hologram in one episode of Season 6, playing poker with the holograms of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. The star physicist was the only guest in "Star Trek" to have played himself.
Image: Paramount
'Hawking' (2004)
Benedict Cumberbatch was the first actor to portray the physicist on screen. His performance in the BBC television film about Stephen Hawking's early years as a PhD student led to his first nomination for a BAFTA TV Award for best actor. Hawking and Cumberbatch are pictured here at a reception in support of Motor Neurone Disease Association at Buckingham Palace in 2015.
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'The Theory of Everything' (2014)
Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Hawking in the British biopic "The Theory of Everything." James Marsch's film was adapted from the memoir written by the scientist's ex-wife, Jane Hawking. In "Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen," she described them meeting and founding a family, as well as his early success in physics and his diagnosis of ALS.
Image: Focus Features/Liam Daniel
'Stephen Hawking's Universe' (2010)
The Discovery Channel six-part documentary series explored the vision of the great scientist. Along with other experts, Hawking revealed his current views on the Big Bang, the origins of the universe or even time travel and aliens.
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'The Simpsons'
The popular cartoon is renowned for its cameos of pop culture stars; Hawking appeared several times in the long-running series. In "They Saved Lisa's Brain," he saves Lisa using his special wheelchair, complete with Inspector Gadget-style accessories allowing him to fly. In the episode, Homer asks his daughter, "Did you have fun with your robot buddy?"
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'Futurama'
Hawking also made various guest appearances in the animated science fiction comedy series "Futurama," lending his voice to his character. In this episode, his head (left) discusses with other jarred intellectuals' brains at a scientific convention about a tear in the universe.
'Superhero movie' (2008)
This spoof of the superhero film genre includes a parody of Hawking himself, played by actor Robert Joy. Appearing at a high school science fair, his character does not reveal profound thoughts, he is rather unexpectedly rude, shocking everyone in the school. He gets punched for being so vulgar, but he gives a heartfelt speech at the end.
'Monty Python Live (Mostly)' (2014)
Hawking made a cameo appearance in the reunion show by the cult British comedy group Monty Python. For the "Galaxy Song," a pre-recorded video featured him in his wheelchair, singing the song after running down another star physicist, Brian Cox. He then goes on traveling through space.
Pink Floyd's 'Division Bell' (1994)
His trademark voice was sampled by the English prog rock band for the song "Keep Talking" on the album "The Division Bell." Hawking's voice can also be heard on another Pink Floyd track from their 2014 album, "The Endless River." The song is called "Talkin' Hawking."
Image: DW/J. von Larcher
Radio version of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (2018)
Hawking's computer-generated voice can also be heard in a variety of media, from advertisements to video games. The new BBC Radio 4 series "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which started airing in March, uses his voice as the character of The Guide Mark II.
With "A Brief History of Time" (1988), Stephen Hawking wrote a book on cosmology for people who didn't know anything about complicated scientific theories. It became a best-seller, with over 10 million copies sold in 20 years.
Shortly afterwards, director Errol Morris made a documentary about the physicist's life, taking a look at the famous scientist's childhood and explaining how he landed paralyzed in a wheelchair, and nevertheless persevered as one of the greatest scientific minds of our time.
At the release party for the home video version of Morris' film, Leonard Nimoy, aka Spock on "Star Trek," found out that Hawking would like to appear on the show. Through the actor's intervention, the cosmologist ended up playing a holographic version of himself in 1993, alongside actors representing Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.
Although Hawking could have easily chosen a more fluid-sounding voice over the years, the distinctive computer-based sound developed specially for him in the late 1980s became his trademark.
In 2014, Queen Elizabeth asked him why he used an American accent; the British scientist joked that his voice was "copyrighted" and he couldn't change it.
Hawking was not the only one who identified strongly with his sci-fi voice — so did the entire world, which is why his cameo appearances in different films, TV shows, ads or songs are so easy to recognize.
Strong last message
The University of Cambridge published on Wednesday a video of Hawking's last public speech he had delivered for his 75th birthday, on January 8, 2017.
His inspirational message went viral and was viewed on different social media platforms over half a million times within three hours.
In his speech, he reminds everyone that despite difficulties faced in life, there is always hope; what matters the most is to never give up.
