David Healy

Also Known As: David Healey, Dave Healey

Biography: A rotund, jovial New Yorker, David Healy obligingly played every manner of stereotypical American in British films and on television for more than thirty years. The son of an Australian father and an American mother, he spent much of his youth in Texas. Studying at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he majored in drama and befriended another young acting hopeful, named Larry Hagman. David first arrived in England as a member of the U.S. Air Force and soon wound up, along with Hagman, in the cast of a touring show written by John Briley. This later grew into The Airbase (1965), a 25-minute BBC sitcom (with David as Staff Sergeant Tillman Miller), which took a humorous look at British-American cultural differences at an RAF base. Considering his job prospects to be rather more lucrative in Britain -- in keeping with the 'bigger fish, smaller pond' theory - David soon found himself in almost continuous demand for any part which required an affable or imperious American. His long gallery of characters included diplomats, businessmen, bureaucrats, spooks, military brass, and so on. There were rare occasions, when he acted against type and played 'Britishers' -- a notable point in case being a likeable Dr. Watson, opposite charismatic Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes, in The Sign of Four (1983). His comedic side was showcased in guest appearances with Dick Emery and Kenny Everett and a with couple of turns in Jeeves and Wooster (1990). Though married and settled in Surrey, David took job offers on both sides of the Atlantic. He was glimpsed as a cleric in Patton (1970) and in Robert Aldrich's doomsday thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977); well-cast as Teddy Roosevelt in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977); and he had recurring roles in TV's favourite soapie of the day, Dallas (1978). British TV audiences saw him guesting in just about every major crime series, from The Saint (1962) and Department S (1969), to The Persuaders! (1971). Simultaneously, from 1967, David pursued a successful career as a stage actor in classical plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In 1975, he re-visited his roots, playing Falstaff at a Shakespeare festival in Dallas. Ever versatile, David found another calling in musicals, appearing in "Kismet", "Call Me Madam" and "The Music Man". He received much praise for his interpretation of Runyonesque gambler Nicely-Nicely Johnson (played definitively on screen by Stubby Kaye) in "Guys and Dolls", performing show-stopping encores of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat". - IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis

Department: Acting

Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York, USA

Adult: No

Birthday: May 15, 1929

Age: 96 years old

Gender: Male

Deathday: October 25, 1995

Popularity:

1.21%

Known For:

Only When I Larf
Patton
The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story
Madame Sin
Ooh...You Are Awful
Diamonds Are Forever
The Ninth Configuration
Panache
Three Wishes for Jamie
Bomber Harris
The Sign of Four
Lust for a Vampire
Twilight's Last Gleaming
It Had to Be You
Assignment K
Lace 2
Turnaround
The Eagle Has Landed
The Finest Hours
In Possession
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
Embassy
Kiss Me, Kate
The Double Man
Supergirl
Labyrinth
Endless Night
Winterspelt 1944
Phase IV
Be My Guest
Double Image
Isadora
Scott Joplin
The Baron: Mystery Island
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Captain Scarlet vs. The Mysterons
You Only Live Twice
The Amazing Adventures Of Joe 90