David Buck
{{for multi|the English footballer|David Buck (footballer)|the United States Air Force general|David J. Buck}}
{{Short description|English actor (1936–1989)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Buck
| image = David Buck in The Mummy's Shroud (1967).png
| caption = Buck in The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
| birth_name = David Keith Rodney Buck
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1936|10|17}}
| birth_place = London, England
| occupation = Actor
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1989|1|27|1936|10|17}}
| death_place = Esher, Surrey, England
| years active = 1959–1989
| spouse = {{marriage|Madeline Smith|1975}}
| children = 1
}}
David Keith Rodney Buck (17 October 1936 – 27 January 1989) was an English actor and author.{{cite web |title = David Buck – About This Person |work = The New York Times |date = 11 April 2013 |url = http://movies.nytimes.com/person/651815/David-Buck |access-date = 26 January 2024 |archive-date = 11 April 2013 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130411135917/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/651815/David-Buck |url-status = dead }}
Biography
Buck was born in London, the son of Joseph Buck and Enid Marguerite (née Webb).Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, vol. 8, ed. Owen O'Donnell, Sara Steen, Gale, 1990, p. 64 He starred in many television productions from 1959 until 1989. One of his earlier roles was that of Horatio Hornblower in an episode entitled "Hornblower" (1963), in the Alcoa Premiere TV series.
He played Winston Smith in Theatre 625: The World of George Orwell: 1984 (1965), a remake of Nigel Kneale's adaptation of the novel. In the first two series of the ITV horror and supernatural anthology series Mystery and Imagination (1966–68) he played the series narrator Richard Beckett (from Sheridan Le Fanu's story "The Flying Dragon") whose character also became involved in some of the other stories adapted.Janet Thurmin Small Screens, Big Ideas: Television in the 1950s, London: IB Tauris, 2002, p.169-70 His film career included roles in Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963), The Sandwich Man (1966), the Hammer film The Mummy's Shroud (1967), Deadfall (1968) and Taste of Excitement (1970). He also had a role as Royal Air Force Squadron Leader David "Scotty" Scott in the film Mosquito Squadron (1969), with David McCallum, in which his character is shot down during a low-level bombing raid over Northern France in 1944 and assumed killed.
Later, he was a voice actor for the films The Lord of the Rings (1978), for which he provided the voice of Gimli, and The Dark Crystal (1982),{{cite web |title = HENSON'S 'CRYSTAL' (Published 1982) |website = The New York Times |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230417023107/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/17/movies/henson-s-crystal.html |archive-date = 2023-04-17 |url-status = live |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/17/movies/henson-s-crystal.html }} where he voiced SkekNa the Slave Master. Buck portrayed Dr. Watson in the 1978 BBC Radio 4 series of 13 Sherlock Holmes short stories.
Buck died of cancer in 1989. At the time of his death, he was married to the actress Madeline Smith, who featured in the film version of Up Pompeii (1971) and numerous comedy programmes in the 1970s.
''The Small Adventures of Dog''
In 1968, William Heinemann published a 'funny and off-beat' children's book written and illustrated by Buck entitled The Small Adventures of Dog.Alexander Muir 'A bear in a cloth cap joins the magic four – and three newcomers join in the fun' London Daily Mirror 21 November 1968 p. 26 He later claimed to have written the book in ' few days'. Buck presented his stories for the children's show Jackanory in April, 1971.Mary Griffiths, 'Booked for Children' London Daily Mirror 5 April 1971 p. 17
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow | Harry Banks | |
| 1966 | The Sandwich Man | Steven Mansfield | |
| 1967 | The Mummy's Shroud | Paul Preston | |
| 1968 | Deadfall | Salinas | |
| 1969 | Mosquito Squadron | Sqn. Ldr. David 'Scotty' Scott | |
| 1969 | Taste of Excitement | Paul Hedley | |
| 1978 | The Lord of the Rings | Gimli – Son of Gloin | Voice |
| 1982 | The Dark Crystal | Slave Master | Voice |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0118344}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, David}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:Deaths from cancer in England
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English male voice actors
Category:Male actors from London
Category:People educated at Mill Hill School
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