David Dawson (actor)
Encyclopedia
David Dawson is a British
actor
. He has appeared on television in The Road to Coronation Street and Luther
and on stage in Comedians
, Posh
and Luise Miller
.
and attended Fairfield High School and Warrington Community College before being accepted to RADA
on the acting programme in 2002. Whilst in high school he was a member of the Musketeer Theatre Company where he played Dogberry
in William Shakespeare
's Much Ado About Nothing
amongst other roles. At just 17 he wrote a play called Divorced and Desperate which ran at the Queen's Hall Theatre, Widnes, for three nights. A year later he wrote and starred in the play The Boy In The Bed at the Tower Theatre, Islington with financial backing from Barbara Windsor
and Julie Walters
who he had written to for help.
for Trevor Nunn
.
Dawson has appeared in the television
shows Doc Martin
, The Thick of It
, Damage and Up Close and Personal. He also played Harry Parr Davies
in the BBC
drama Gracie about the life of English singer Gracie Fields
. He starred as Coronation Street
creator Tony Warren
in the BBC
drama The Road to Coronation Street. He played Toby Kent in three episodes of the second series of Luther
for the BBC. He was cast as Bazzard in the 2012 television adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood
on BBC Two and PBS.
.
in the BBC Four
drama The Road to Coronation Street
. For The Independent
Rachel Cooke said "I think he's going to be a huge star. When he is doing his thing, it is hard to take your eyes off him". The Daily Express said "It is David Dawson and some perfectly judged dialogue which brings this drama to light" while The Mirrors Jane Simon called him "absolutely brilliant".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He has appeared on television in The Road to Coronation Street and Luther
Luther (TV series)
Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as the title character Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on BBC One in summer 2011...
and on stage in Comedians
Comedians (play)
Comedians is a play by Trevor Griffiths, set in a Manchester evening class for aspiring working-class comedians. It was first performed at the Nottingham Playhouse on 20 February 1975, in a production directed by Richard Eyre. The cast included Jonathan Pryce as the main character, Gethin Price,...
, Posh
Posh (play)
Posh is a play by the British playwright Laura Wade which was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre downstairs in 2010. The play set in an Oxford student dining club called "The Riot Club" a fictionalised version of the Bullingdon Club...
and Luise Miller
Intrigue and Love
Intrigue and Love , , is a five-act play, written by the German dramatist and writer Friedrich Schiller...
.
Early life
Dawson was born in Widnes, CheshireCheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
and attended Fairfield High School and Warrington Community College before being accepted to RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
on the acting programme in 2002. Whilst in high school he was a member of the Musketeer Theatre Company where he played Dogberry
Dogberry
Dogberry is a self-satisfied night constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing.In the play, Dogberry is the chief of the citizen-police in Messina. As is usual in Shakespearean comedy, and Renaissance comedy generally, he is a figure of comic incompetence...
in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
amongst other roles. At just 17 he wrote a play called Divorced and Desperate which ran at the Queen's Hall Theatre, Widnes, for three nights. A year later he wrote and starred in the play The Boy In The Bed at the Tower Theatre, Islington with financial backing from Barbara Windsor
Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
and Julie Walters
Julie Walters
Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
who he had written to for help.
Career
Dawson's first professional role was as understudy to Kevin Spacey as the eponymous hero of Shakespeare's Richard IIRichard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
for Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
.
Dawson has appeared in the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows Doc Martin
Doc Martin
Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes...
, The Thick of It
The Thick of It
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...
, Damage and Up Close and Personal. He also played Harry Parr Davies
Harry Parr Davies
Harry Parr-Davies was a Welsh composer and songwriter.He was born Harry Parr Davies in Briton Ferry, Neath, South Wales and was a musical prodigy, having composed whole operettas by the time he was in his teens. He came to the attention of composer Sir Walford Davies, who encouraged him to study...
in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama Gracie about the life of English singer Gracie Fields
Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
. He starred as Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
creator Tony Warren
Tony Warren
Anthony McVay Simpson MBE , better known by his stage name Tony Warren, is an award-winning English television scriptwriter, best known for creating the soap opera Coronation Street...
in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama The Road to Coronation Street. He played Toby Kent in three episodes of the second series of Luther
Luther (TV series)
Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as the title character Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on BBC One in summer 2011...
for the BBC. He was cast as Bazzard in the 2012 television adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by Charles Dickens. The novel was left unfinished at the time of Dickens' death, and his intended ending for it remains unknown. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, the story focuses on Drood's uncle, choirmaster John Jasper, who...
on BBC Two and PBS.
Theatre
| Year | Title | Venue | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Luise Miller Intrigue and Love Intrigue and Love , , is a five-act play, written by the German dramatist and writer Friedrich Schiller... |
Donmar Warehouse Donmar Warehouse Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical... |
Hofmarschall von Kalb |
| 2010 | Posh Posh (play) Posh is a play by the British playwright Laura Wade which was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre downstairs in 2010. The play set in an Oxford student dining club called "The Riot Club" a fictionalised version of the Bullingdon Club... |
Royal Court Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre... |
Hugo Fraser-Tyrwhitt |
| 2009 | Comedians Comedians (play) Comedians is a play by Trevor Griffiths, set in a Manchester evening class for aspiring working-class comedians. It was first performed at the Nottingham Playhouse on 20 February 1975, in a production directed by Richard Eyre. The cast included Jonathan Pryce as the main character, Gethin Price,... |
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith | Gethin Price |
| 2009 | Romeo and Juliet | Royal Shakespeare Company Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across... |
Romeo Romeo Montague Romeo is one of the fictional protagonists in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is the son of old Montague and his wife, who secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet... |
| 2009 | The Entertainer | The Old Vic | Frank Rice |
| 2008 | Nicholas Nickleby | UK Tour | Smike |
| 2008 | The Long, The Short, The Tall | Sheffield Crucible | Whittaker |
| 2007 | Richard II Richard II (play) King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's... |
The Old Vic | The Groom/ Understudy to Richard |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Mystery of Edwin Drood The Mystery of Edwin Drood The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by Charles Dickens. The novel was left unfinished at the time of Dickens' death, and his intended ending for it remains unknown. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, the story focuses on Drood's uncle, choirmaster John Jasper, who... |
Bazzard |
| 2011 | Luther Luther (TV series) Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as the title character Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on BBC One in summer 2011... |
Toby Kent |
| 2010 | The Road to Coronation Street The Road to Coronation Street The Road to Coronation Street is a British drama first broadcast on BBC Four documenting the journey of Coronation Street, the UK's longest-running television soap opera, from conception to its first transmission in December 1960... |
Tony Warren Tony Warren Anthony McVay Simpson MBE , better known by his stage name Tony Warren, is an award-winning English television scriptwriter, best known for creating the soap opera Coronation Street... |
| 2009 | London Boulevard | Big Issue Seller |
| 2009 | The Secret Diary of a Call Girl | Byron |
| 2009 | Gracie! | Harry Parr Davies Harry Parr Davies Harry Parr-Davies was a Welsh composer and songwriter.He was born Harry Parr Davies in Briton Ferry, Neath, South Wales and was a musical prodigy, having composed whole operettas by the time he was in his teens. He came to the attention of composer Sir Walford Davies, who encouraged him to study... |
| 2007 | The Thick of It The Thick of It The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's... |
Affers |
| 2007 | Damage | Tom Byrne |
| 2005 | Doc Martin Doc Martin Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes... |
Wallace |
Awards
In 2008 Dawson was nominated for Best Newcomer in a Play at the Olivier Awards for his role as Smike in Nicholas Nickleby. He was also nominated in 2010 for Best Supporting Actor in the What's On Stage awards for his role as Gethin Price in ComediansComedians (play)
Comedians is a play by Trevor Griffiths, set in a Manchester evening class for aspiring working-class comedians. It was first performed at the Nottingham Playhouse on 20 February 1975, in a production directed by Richard Eyre. The cast included Jonathan Pryce as the main character, Gethin Price,...
.
Critical Acclaim
Dawson drew critical acclaim for his portrayal of writer Tony WarrenTony Warren
Anthony McVay Simpson MBE , better known by his stage name Tony Warren, is an award-winning English television scriptwriter, best known for creating the soap opera Coronation Street...
in the BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
drama The Road to Coronation Street
The Road to Coronation Street
The Road to Coronation Street is a British drama first broadcast on BBC Four documenting the journey of Coronation Street, the UK's longest-running television soap opera, from conception to its first transmission in December 1960...
. For The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
Rachel Cooke said "I think he's going to be a huge star. When he is doing his thing, it is hard to take your eyes off him". The Daily Express said "It is David Dawson and some perfectly judged dialogue which brings this drama to light" while The Mirrors Jane Simon called him "absolutely brilliant".