David Healy

David Healy

Birth : 1929-05-15, Manhattan, New York, USA

Death : 1995-10-25

History

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

Profile

David Healy

Movies

Merlin and the War of the Dragons
Toothy Dave
In 5th Century Britian, a young Merlin struggles for his place in his known land under the tutelage of The Mage, a local wizard whom sees the young man's potential for magic, as well as face off against his evil former friend, Vendiger, whom plots with a feudal warlord king to conquer all of Britian using an army of flying dragons, and only Merlin with the alliance of the local Prince Uther and Ingraine and a pair of mystical goddesses, can have the power to stop the evil from taking over the land.
Bomber Harris
Lt. Gen. Ira Eaker USAAF
Biography of Arthur Harris (aka "Bomber Harris") of RAF Bomber Command, during WW2 - in particular his strategy of heavy bomber "Millenium Raids" on German cities.
Turnaround
Magicians grandson and his girlfriend and their friends are victimized by a bike gang of her former boyfriend. Using grandfather's house and props from father's magic business they take revenge.
Three Wishes for Jamie
Father Kerry
Adapted from Charles O'Neal's 1949 book, this follows the lighthearted adventures of a late 19th Century young man named Jamie McGrew, the three wishes granted to him in a dream by a fairy queen, and the unusual way they come true. His first is for travel (he goes from Ireland to a life of horse trading in Georgia); his second, to marry the girl of his dreams; the third, a son with the gift of poetry and the ability to speak in the ancient Gaelic tongue.
The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story
Dr. George Hyatt
A profile in courage, the film examines the trauma and effort that Senator Edward Kennedy's son went through after losing his leg to a rare form of cancer and with the rehabilitation that was required.
Labyrinth
Right Door Knocker (voice)
When teen Sarah is forced to babysit her half-brother Toby, she summons Jareth the Goblin King to take him away. When he is actually kidnapped, Sarah is given just thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue him.
Double Image
Newscaster
This film tells the true-life story of Yuri Nosenko, a top Soviet KGB agent who defected to the West at the height of the Cold War in 1962.
In Possession
Jack Mervyn
A terrified couple becomes trapped in what seems to be a replay of a sinister event that happened in their apartment in the past. This 75-minute TV movie first aired on the "Fox Mystery Theater" series.
Supergirl
Mr. Danvers
After losing a powerful orb, Kara, Superman's cousin, comes to Earth to retrieve it and instead finds herself up against a wicked witch.
The Sign of Four
Dr. John Watson
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson try to track down the Great Mogul, the second-largest diamond in the world.
Tales of the Unexpected: Dip in the Pool
Auctioneer
An American gambler on a trans-Atlantic liner goes into the pool that bets on how far ship sails each day. Expecting bad weather, he bets a low distance, but then the weather fines up. He must come up with a plan to slow the ship down.
Winterspelt
Pfc Foster
In September 1944, a Wehrmacht officer tried to hand over his unit.
Scott Joplin
Sam Bundler
The life story of Scott Joplin and how he became the greatest ragtime composer of all time.
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
Theodore Roosevelt
The story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during their 12-year stay at the White House.
Phase IV
Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.
Ooh... You Are Awful
Tourist
Charlie Tully and womanising Reggie Peek con two rich Italians out of £500,000 but during their flight out Charlie is arrested for coning an American and a dog. Reggie stores the money in a Swiss Bank and after Charlie is released is about to tell him which Bank when he is killed by Sid Sabbath's gang whose girlfriend Reggie had an affair with. The only lead is four tattoos that is on the girls Reggie had affairs with while Charlie was in jail. But Sabbath is on Charlie's trail to kill him and the Italians contract the mob - to find the money and then kill him.....
Endless Night
Jason
Shiftless dreamer Michael Rogers fantasizes about a lifestyle above his means and marries a wealthy, young girl who just came of age. They hire a famous architect to build their dream home amidst a series of suspicious incidents. The spouse has dark intentions toward his naive, inexperienced bride. Secrets from his past and sinister ties to their house guest Greta lead to a terrible turn of unexpected events.
Embassy
Phelan
A KGB assassin infiltrates the American embassy in Beirut in an attempt to eliminate a Russian defector being protected by the CIA.
Madame Sin
Braden
A CIA agent is used as a pawn in an insane woman's plan to steal a Polaris submarine.
Diamonds Are Forever
Vandenburg Launch Director (uncredited)
Diamonds are stolen only to be sold again in the international market. James Bond infiltrates a smuggling mission to find out who's guilty. The mission takes him to Las Vegas where Bond meets his archenemy Blofeld.
Lust for a Vampire
Raymond Pelley
In 1830, the Karnstein heirs use the blood of an innocent to bring forth the evil that is the beautiful Mircalla - or as she was in 1710, Carmilla. The nearby Finishing School offers rich pickings not only in in the blood of nubile young ladies but also with the headmaster who is desperate to become Mircalla's disciple, and the equally besotted and even more foolish author Richard Lestrange.
Patton
Clergyman
"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.
Isadora
Chicago Theatre Manager
A biography of the dancer Isadora Duncan, the 1920s dancer who forever changed people's ideas of ballet. Her nude, semi-nude, and pro-Soviet dance projects as well as her attitudes on free love, debt, dress, and lifestyle shocked the public of her time.
Only When I Larf
Jones
A master conman leads a pair of British accomplices on an international adventure of highly profitable dirty tricks.
The Double Man
Halstead
In a complex piece of espionage the Russian secret service attempts to kidnap a high ranking officer in the CIA and replace him with a double of its own.
Be My Guest
Hilton Bass
A couple inherit a hotel with no guests until their son's pop group turns things around.
The Finest Hours
Newsreel Commentator
A biography of Winston Churchill, shown through re-creations and actual film footage and told by Orson Welles.
Kiss Me Kate
Abridged version of the classic Cole Porter musical.