David Firth (actor)
David Firth (born 15 March 1945) is an English actor, writer and singer for stage, film and television.[1][2] Firth created the role of M. André in the original cast of Phantom of the Opera.[3]
Early life
David Firth (born David Coleman) was born in Bedford on 15 March 1945.[1] He was educated at Bedford Modern School, the University of Sussex and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[1]
Career
Firth was with the Royal Shakespeare Company (1967–70), the Royal National Theatre (1973) and played M. André in the original cast of the Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre, 1986).[1]
During his stage career, Firth played roles in The Metropolitan Mikado (Queen Elizabeth Hall, 1985),[4] King Lear (Old Vic, 1988), The Hunting of the Snark (1991), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Barbican Theatre, 1992), Jubilee (Barbican Theatre, 1992), Assassins (Donmar Warehouse, 1992, as John Wilkes Booth),[5] Knickerbocker Holiday (Barbican, 1993), Follies (Brighton, 1993), Forty Years On (West Yorkshire Playhouse, 1994), Love Life (Barbican Theatre, 1995), Passion (Queens Theatre, 1996), The Fix (Donmar Warehouse, 1997), Die Fledermaus (Arts Theatre, 1998), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Barbican Theatre, 1998), Good Grief (Yvonne Arnaud, 1998), H.M.S. Pinafore (Royal Festival Hall, 1999), Susanna's Secret (Drill Hall, 1999), Jubilee (Her Majesty's and BBC Radio 3, 1999).
In recent decades, he appeared in Der Kuhandel (Barbican and BBC Radio 3, 2000), Journey's End (Drill Hall, 2000), Cenerentola (Music Theatre London, 2001), Reverend Tooker in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Lyric, 2001),[6] Relatively Speaking (Secombe Theatre Sutton, 2002), Our Song (tour, 2003), Coward and Others (2004), The Man Who... (Orange Tree Richmond, 2005), The Shell Seekers (tour, 2006), Yellow Lines (Oval House, 2007), Park Avenue (Lilian Bayliss Theatre, 2008), Dirty Dancing (Aldwych Theatre, 2008), and Phantom of the Opera (Royal Albert Hall, 2011).[1] He played Phineas Fogg in Around the World in Eighty Days in 2013 (Sadler's Wells Theatre).[7]
Alongside his stage career, Firth has performed in a number of television series and on film,[8] and is credited as a writer on The Return of Shelley, Home James! and Sorry, I'm a Stranger Here Myself.[2]
Filmography
Actor
|
|
Writer
- The Return of Shelley (TV Series) (1992)
- Home James! (TV Series) (1987)
- Sorry, I'm A Stranger Here Myself (1981)
References
- "David Firth, Esq Authorised Biography - Debrett's People of Today". debretts.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- "David Firth". IMDb. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- "David Firth". The Phantom of the Opera. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- Hoyle, Martin. "Bravado Mikado With a Touch Too Much Fertiliser", 3 August 1985, Financial Times, p. XI
- Wardle, Irving. "Theatre: Sondheim Scores a Direct Hit", 1 November 1992, The Independent, p. 20
- Morley, Sheridan. "Lazy Charm; The Arts Theatre", 29 September 2001, The Spectator, p. 48
- Kiek, Miranda. "Theatre review: Around the World, Sadler's Wells, London", 28 October 2013, The Independent, p. 46
- "David Firth", BFI, accessed 2 May 2022