David Healy

Known for ActingBorn 1929-05-15Died 1995-10-25Manhattan, New York, USA

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.MowisRead more

Movies & web series

The Puerto Rican Mambo (Not a Musical)

Panache

Espionage

The Frighteners

Jeeves and Wooster

Winterspelt 1944

Bomber Harris

Jason King

In Possession

UFO

Frank Stubbs Promotes

Three Wishes for Jamie

The Persuaders!

Till Death Us Do Part

Patton

Labyrinth

Dickens of London

Blake's 7

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

The Saint

Paul Temple

Madame Sin

Hammer House of Horror

The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story

Sanford

Only When I Larf

Return of the Saint

Out of the Unknown

Second Verdict

Vega$

The Baron: Mystery Island

Joe 90

Dallas

Tales of the Unexpected

Father Brown

Charlie's Angels

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense

The Sign of Four

The Finest Hours

Space Precinct

You Only Live Twice

Twilight's Last Gleaming

Be My Guest

The Ninth Configuration

Embassy

Diamonds Are Forever

Scott Joplin

Phase IV