Clifford David
{{Short description|American actor (1928–2017)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Clifford David
| image = Clifford_David.jpg
| caption = David in 2007
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|06|30}}
| birth_place = Toledo, Ohio, United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|11|30|1928|06|20}}|
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| occupation = Actor, singer
| years_active = 1953–2017
}}
Clifford David (June 30, 1928 – November 30, 2017){{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=clifford-david&pid=187494366 |title= Clifford David's New York Times Obituary |accessdate=2018-05-28}} was an American actor, singer,{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2396843-Clifford-David |title= Clifford David, Discography |accessdate=2018-05-28}} and coach. His career began in the 1950s, with early live television appearances leading to roles in Broadway musicals. He also played character roles in television series, feature films, and theatre.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/person/clifford-david-vault-0000104757 |title= Clifford David, Performer: Playbills|accessdate=2018-05-28}}
Early life
David was born in Toledo, Ohio, the youngest son of Farris and Lily (née Abdow). His uncle was Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan Samuel David of Toledo.{{cn|date=July 2023}}
Career
A protégé of Lee Strasberg, David made his Broadway debut as Scipio in Albert Camus' Caligula directed by Sidney Lumet.{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/caligula-2094 |title= Caligula, Internet Broadway Database|accessdate=2018-05-25}} He also played Pasquale in The Aspern Papers, directed by Margaret Webster, Antipholus in the 1963 Off-Broadway revival The Boys from Syracuse, Laertes in Joseph Papp's Hamlet, and Lord Byron in the Lincoln Center production of Tennessee Williams' Camino Real with Al Pacino.
A member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences,{{cite web|url=http://oscar.go.com/photos/2018/oscars-in-memoriam-2018-photos/2258272284d8e8b50b136c14b86cc8c1c29621dca8a8b2da6bacd4f76d52e135 |title= Clifford David, Oscars in Memoriam 2018|accessdate=2018-05-28}} Clifford's filmography includes Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964), Resurrection, and M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (2002). As an accomplished pianist, he was cast as Beethoven in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).
A member of the Actors Studio from 1962, David worked with many of the greats of American theater, film, and television. He told stories of drinking with Richard Burton and shopping with Marilyn Monroe. He was working with Monroe on a play entitled The Cat, adapted from a Colette novel by Arthur Miller, when she died.
David was featured in the principal casts and on the original studio albums of such Broadway musicals as Wildcat{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/clifford-david-mn0001720538/credits |title= Clifford David, Musical Credits |accessdate=2018-05-28}} with Lucille Ball,{{Cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUu9CQAAQBAJ&q=wildcat+with+lucille+ball+with+Clifford+David&pg=PT386|title=You Fascinate Me So: The Life and Times of Cy Coleman|publisher=Masterworks Broadway|last=Coleman|first=Cy|date=2015-04-15|work=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9781495026027|access-date=2015-04-15}} 1776,{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00137R6PQ/ref=pm_ws_tlw_trk11 |title= Clifford David, listed as author for 1776|accessdate=2018-05-28}}{{Cite news|url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4cc8f300-e196-0130-b8cb-58d385a7bbd0|title=Actor Clifford David as Edward Rutledge in a scene from the Broadway musical "1776."(New York)|last=Swope|first=Martha|date=1969-01-01|work=BILLY ROSE THEATRE DIVISION}} with William Daniels, Alan Jay Lerner's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Other feature film credits include The Last Mile (1959), The Party's Over (1965) with Oliver Reed, Riot (1969), The Betsy (1978), with Laurence Olivier, Fort Apache, The Bronx with Paul Newman (1981), and The Exorcist III (1990).
He was seen on television in the miniseries Blind Ambition, as well as in political dramas Fear on Trial and Missiles of October with Martin Sheen. He appeared in episodes of Bonanza, The Big Valley, Charlie's Angels, Mary Tyler Moore, Murphy Brown, Party of Five, Murder, She Wrote, Will & Grace, and Law & Order.{{IMDb name|0202849|Clifford David}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/clifford-david/credits/145201/ |title= Clifford David, TV Guide Credits |accessdate=2018-05-28}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ {{Screen reader-only| Clifford David film credits}} | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Street of Sinners | Tom | |
| 1959 | The Last Mile | Richard Walters | |
| 1964 | Invitation to a Gunfighter | Crane Adams | |
| 1965 | Hamlet | Laertes | |
| 1965 | The Party's Over | Carson | |
| 1969 | Riot | Mary Sheldon | |
| 1978 | The Betsy | Joe | |
| 1980 | Resurrection | George | |
| 1981 | Fort Apache, The Bronx | Dacey | |
| 1986 | Agent on Ice | Kirkpatrick | |
| 1989 | Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure | Beethoven | |
| 1990 | The Exorcist III | Dr. Bruno | |
| 1991 | Pyrates | Advisor | |
| 2002 | Signs | Columbia University Professor | |
| 2004 | Kinsey | Professor Smithson |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ {{Screen reader-only| Clifford David television credits}} | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969
| Bill Stokley / Rich Stokely | 1 episode | |||
| 1971
| Ironside | Joe Julian | 1 episode | |||
| 1972
| Bonanza | Mr. Evans | Episode: "The Hidden Enemy" | |||
| 1974
| David Boyd | 1 episode | |||
| 1974 | The Missiles of October | Theodore Sorensen, White House Counsel | TV movie |
| 1975
| Fear on Trial | Hall | TV movie | |||
| 1979
| Fred Fielding | TV miniseries | |||
| 1978
| Gordon Roclair | 1 episode | |||
| 1986
| Charles Webber | Episode: "Unpunished Crimes" | |||
| 1995
| Claude Faragere | 1 episode | |||
| 1996
| Mr. Olmstead | 1 episode | |||
| 1998
| Man | 1 episode | |||
| 2003
| Hotel Manager | 1 episode | |||
| 2001
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Ralph Kozinski | Episode: "Art" | |||
| 2005
| Owswald Jackson | Episode: "Sects" |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IBDB name}}
- [http://lortel.org/Archives/CreditableEntity/12293 Clifford David] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226050219/http://lortel.org/Archives/CreditableEntity/12293 |date=2017-02-26 }} at Internet Off-Broadway Database
- [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;type=simple;rgn=Entire%20Finding%20Aid;q1=Clifford%20David;view=reslist;subview=detail;sort=freq;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a Clifford David] at the University of Wisconsin's [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-audi00339a Actors Studio audio collection]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Clifford}}