Frank Poole
Encyclopedia
Frank Poole is a fictional character
from Arthur C. Clarke
's Space Odyssey
series. In Stanley Kubrick
's 2001: A Space Odyssey
, Poole was portrayed by Gary Lockwood
.
Tom Hanks
once expressed interest in directing a film version of 3001, in which he would have played Poole.
, Poole is an astronaut aboard the spacecraft Discovery One
on the first manned mission to Jupiter
(Saturn
in the novel). He and Dave Bowman are the only passengers who are not in suspended animation
.
Poole and Bowman discuss disconnecting HAL 9000
, the ship's computer, after it mistakenly predicts that the AE-35 unit (an electronic unit in the ship's main antenna) is going to fail. They realize that HAL is capable of error, and privately discuss disconnecting him. They believe themselves to be out of HAL's hearing range, but the computer, which can read lips, learns of their plan and resolves to get rid of the threat.
Shortly afterward, Poole begins replacing the AE-35 unit. In an act resembling human desperation, HAL rams Poole with one of the ship's pods, severing his oxygen hose and sending Poole hurtling into space without his oxygen. Bowman, in a second pod, races from the ship to retrieve Poole, but is unable to reach him before Poole runs out of oxygen. Bowman returns to the ship with the body of Poole in the arms of the pod and attempts to gain access by requesting that HAL opens the pod bay doors. HAL refuses to let Bowman return to the ship, uttering the now famous line, "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." Bowman is forced to use the emergency airlock; this cannot be done with Poole still in the ship's arms as the arms must be used to manually open the airlock. Thus, Bowman abandons his colleague and in order to open the airlock lets go of Poole, sending his corpse into the emptiness of space.
, Poole's body is discovered after drifting in space for a millennium. Given Poole's exposure to vacuum (he was flash-frozen so his body was fully intact after 1,000 years), the advanced medical technology of the time is able to revive him and Poole is brought back to life. Poole must then contend with the trio of Monoliths that hold sway over our solar system, and what Bowman has become. He also marries a woman named Indra Wallace and has two children, Dawn and Martin.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's Space Odyssey
The Space Odyssey series
The Space Odyssey series is a science fiction series of four novels and two films created from 1968 to 1997, primarily by the writer Arthur C. Clarke...
series. In Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
, Poole was portrayed by Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...
.
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
once expressed interest in directing a film version of 3001, in which he would have played Poole.
2001
In 2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
, Poole is an astronaut aboard the spacecraft Discovery One
Discovery One
United States Spacecraft Discovery One is a fictional spacecraft appearing in The Space Odyssey series, including the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Discovery One is a large, nuclear-powered interplanetary spaceship.-History:...
on the first manned mission to Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
(Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
in the novel). He and Dave Bowman are the only passengers who are not in suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
.
Poole and Bowman discuss disconnecting HAL 9000
HAL 9000
HAL 9000 is the antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction Space Odyssey saga. HAL is an artificial intelligence that interacts with the astronaut crew of the Discovery One spacecraft, usually represented as a red television-camera eye found throughout the ship...
, the ship's computer, after it mistakenly predicts that the AE-35 unit (an electronic unit in the ship's main antenna) is going to fail. They realize that HAL is capable of error, and privately discuss disconnecting him. They believe themselves to be out of HAL's hearing range, but the computer, which can read lips, learns of their plan and resolves to get rid of the threat.
Shortly afterward, Poole begins replacing the AE-35 unit. In an act resembling human desperation, HAL rams Poole with one of the ship's pods, severing his oxygen hose and sending Poole hurtling into space without his oxygen. Bowman, in a second pod, races from the ship to retrieve Poole, but is unable to reach him before Poole runs out of oxygen. Bowman returns to the ship with the body of Poole in the arms of the pod and attempts to gain access by requesting that HAL opens the pod bay doors. HAL refuses to let Bowman return to the ship, uttering the now famous line, "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." Bowman is forced to use the emergency airlock; this cannot be done with Poole still in the ship's arms as the arms must be used to manually open the airlock. Thus, Bowman abandons his colleague and in order to open the airlock lets go of Poole, sending his corpse into the emptiness of space.
3001
In the novel 3001: The Final Odyssey3001: The Final Odyssey
3001: The Final Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Sir Arthur C. Clarke. It is the fourth and final book in Clarke's Space Odyssey series.-Plot summary:...
, Poole's body is discovered after drifting in space for a millennium. Given Poole's exposure to vacuum (he was flash-frozen so his body was fully intact after 1,000 years), the advanced medical technology of the time is able to revive him and Poole is brought back to life. Poole must then contend with the trio of Monoliths that hold sway over our solar system, and what Bowman has become. He also marries a woman named Indra Wallace and has two children, Dawn and Martin.