David Bernard Swift was born on the 3rd of April 1931 in Liverpool the eldest of the two acting brothers, with two sisters, of the Jewish family Abram Sampson Swift and Lily Rebecca (née Greenman), who owned a furniture shop in Bootle. He was a keen sportsman at the independent Clifton college, in Bristol, and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he read law. Although he qualified as a barrister, David abandoned his planned career and opted for business management with his father-in-law JP Jacobs, for a textile company who supplied all the elastic to Marks & Spencer. After marrying the boss's daughter, the Liverpool actor Paula Jacobs in 1953, he eventually decided that her career was more interesting than the one he was pursuing so in 1963, he joined Dundee rep as an assistant stage manager. One of the other young assistant stage managers was Brian Cox, and David gained his first professional acting experience there on stage. He then made his television debut in 1964 as Theo Clay in the BBC magazine soap 'Compact' and while with Salisbury rep, he directed Bill Naughton’s 'Spring and Port Wine' (1969). He was never far from our TV screens following that first appearance and was seen in 'Hereward the Wake', 'The Avengers', 'The Baron', 'Follyfoot', 'Within These Walls' and 'Jack the Ripper', to name but a few. His other small-screen roles included 'War & Peace' in which he played a strident Napoleon opposite the young Anthony Hopkins' outstanding Pierre (1972-73) and the lead role of Alan Taylor in the TV marriage-guidance serial 'Couples' (1975-76). Among his rare film roles were Montclair, treasurer of the French underground organisation hiring Edward Fox’s assassin, in 'The Day of the Jackal' (1973).
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| in 'Rising Damp' |
He went on to play Talbot in 'Henry VI, Part 1' with the Royal Shakespeare Company (Aldwych theatre, 1978); appeared in several episodes of 'Going Straight' (1978), the sequel to 'Porridge'; played Dingley, running a florist’s shop with Richard Beckinsale’s character Stan, in the BBC sitcom 'Bloomers' (1979); Fagin in 'The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist' (1980), before winning acclaim in the West End as Frank Doel in '84 Charing Cross Road', co-starring with Rosemary Leach (Ambassadors theatre, 1981-82). Prior to this he had made a guest appearance, again with Richard Beckinsale, in 'Rising Damp' in which he played a suicidal tenant in the episode 'Good Samaritans'. In 1983 Alan Strachan directed him in a memorable production of JB Priestley’s 'An Inspector Calls' at Greenwich with Peter Woodward and Margaret Tyzack.
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| in 'Drop the Dead Donkey' |
He played Mr Sedley in the BBC Pebble Mill Production of 'Vanity Fair' (1987) and as Oscar Spinner in the children’s series 'Oscar Charlie' (2001). However it was the role of the irascible newsreader Henry Davenport in the topical comedy, 'Drop the Dead Donkey' (1990-2008), written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin for which he became best known. Here he found wide-spread fame in the Nineties when Channel 4 transmitted the show, a behind the scenes sitcom set in a television news studio. It captured the tensions – personal and political – of working to deadlines by some abrasive and ambitious characters. David's character was the avuncular news presenter at GlobeLink News and considered himself the star of the station. However, he was vain and riddled with personal anxieties; wore a toupee which caused much ribald remarks from his colleagues – most of whom Davenport despised and never really rated. It was a wonderful role for an actor of his experience to play and he did so with an enthusiastic venom – clearly enjoying himself. He also made occasional appearances as God in the Radio 4 comedy 'Old Harry's Game', also written by Andy Hamilton.
Alongside his acting career, he had an active interest in the behind-the-scenes aspects of media production, running the sound recording and post-production businesses Preview 1 and Preview 2 in the 1960s, before co-founding and managing Tempest Films in 1969 along with film-makers Charles Denton, Richard Marquand, Paul Watson and John Pilger. The company also produced documentaries by actor-director Kenneth Griffith.
David died from complications of Alzheimer's disease on the 8th of April 2016, just 5 days after his 85th birthday. He was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery and although he was survived by his wife and their two children, Julia and Matthew, his wife Paula died on the 26th of June 2021 and is now also buried there.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/10/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-janet.html
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