David Weston (actor)
Encyclopedia
David Weston is an English actor, director and author. Since graduating from RADA
in 1961 (having won the Silver Medal for that year) he has acted in numerous film, television and stage productions, including twenty-seven plays in Shakespeare
's canon. With Michael Croft he was a founder member of the National Youth Theatre
. Much of his directing work has been for that organization; he has directed also at the Regent's Park
Open Air Theatre and a number of other theatres in London. He wrote and narrated a series of non-fiction audio books, including Shakespeare His Life and Work which won the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Award for best audio non-fiction book.
, Dulwich
, during the time that Michael Croft, founder of the National Youth Theatre
, was there creating drama of a very high standard. In 1956 Croft directed a school production of Shakespeare
's Henry IV, Part 2
, which, when revived as a NYT
production at the Toynbee Hall
Theatre the following year, attracted the attention of the national press. Weston played Falstaff
, a character singled out by The Times
in its praise of the play's comedy.
In August 1960 Weston played Mark Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
at the Queen's Theatre
, Shaftesbury Avenue
. Directed by Croft and given in modern dress
, this was only the second appearance by the company of the NYT
in London's West End
. John Shrapnel
played Caesar, Neil Stacy Brutus and Alan Allkins Cassius. The play was judged a "youthful success" by the theatre critic of The Times
; Weston's performance was said to have successfully caught an opportunist spirit effectually hidden by a rough charm.
The Times
was more muted in its praise of the Electra
and Oedipus Rex
of Sophocles
in a double bill put on by RADA
at its Vanbrugh Theatre, Bloomsbury
in February 1961. Weston played Creon
in Oedipus Rex; his bluff characterization was described as strongly supportive.
Weston's first television appearance was as Romeo in a production for schools of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
; Jane Asher
played Juliet.
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....
in 1961 (having won the Silver Medal for that year) he has acted in numerous film, television and stage productions, including twenty-seven plays in 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 canon. With Michael Croft he was a founder member of the National Youth Theatre
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
. Much of his directing work has been for that organization; he has directed also at the Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
Open Air Theatre and a number of other theatres in London. He wrote and narrated a series of non-fiction audio books, including Shakespeare His Life and Work which won the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Award for best audio non-fiction book.
Early career
Weston was educated at Alleyn's SchoolAlleyn's School
Alleyn's School is an independent, fee-paying co-educational day school situated in Dulwich, south London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of the historic Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundation, which also included James Allen's Girls' School , Dulwich...
, Dulwich
Dulwich
Dulwich is an area of South London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth...
, during the time that Michael Croft, founder of the National Youth Theatre
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
, was there creating drama of a very high standard. In 1956 Croft directed a school production of 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 Henry IV, Part 2
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.-Sources:...
, which, when revived as a NYT
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
production at the Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall is a building in Tower Hamlets, East London which is the home of a charity working to bridge the gap between people of all social and financial backgrounds, with a focus on eradicating poverty and promoting social inclusion....
Theatre the following year, attracted the attention of the national press. Weston played Falstaff
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is...
, a character singled out by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
in its praise of the play's comedy.
In August 1960 Weston played Mark Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
, Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major street in central London, England, named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, that runs in a north-easterly direction from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus....
. Directed by Croft and given in modern dress
Modern dress
Modern dress is a term used in theatre and film to refer to productions of plays from the past in which the setting is updated to the present day , but the text is left relatively unchanged. For example, Baz Luhrmann's film Romeo and Juliet uses a relatively unaltered text of Shakespeare's play but...
, this was only the second appearance by the company of the NYT
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
in London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel is an English actor.Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel....
played Caesar, Neil Stacy Brutus and Alan Allkins Cassius. The play was judged a "youthful success" by the theatre critic of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
; Weston's performance was said to have successfully caught an opportunist spirit effectually hidden by a rough charm.
The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
was more muted in its praise of the Electra
Electra (Sophocles)
Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes and the Oedipus at Colonus lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan...
and Oedipus Rex
Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
in a double bill put on by RADA
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
at its Vanbrugh Theatre, Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
in February 1961. Weston played Creon
Creon
Creon is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus. He had two children with his wife, Eurydice: Megareus and Haemon...
in Oedipus Rex; his bluff characterization was described as strongly supportive.
Weston's first television appearance was as Romeo in a production for schools of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
; Jane Asher
Jane Asher
Jane Asher is an English actress. She has also developed a second career as a cake decorator and cake shop proprietor.-Early life:...
played Juliet.
Filmography
- That Kind of GirlThat Kind of GirlThat Kind of Girl is a British cult film and the directorial debut of Gerry O'Hara. Produced by Robert Hartford-Davis with a script by Jan Read, it was released in 1963....
(1963) - Keith Murray - Doctor In DistressDoctor in Distress (film)Doctor in Distress is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, and Samantha Eggar. It was the fifth film in the Doctor Series...
(1963) - Dr Bell - 80,000 Suspects80,000 Suspects80,000 Suspects is a 1963 British film, directed by Val Guest which concerns an outbreak of smallpox in Bath, England.-Plot:A romantic melodrama set against the backdrop of a smallpox epidemic which features Richard Johnson as the diligent doctor in control and Claire Bloom as his outwardly serene...
(1963) - Brian Davis - The InformersThe Informers (1963 film)The Informers is a 1963 British crime film produced and distributed in the UK by The Rank Organisation and distributed in the USA by Continental Film Distributors. It was directed by Ken Annakin, produced by William MacQuitty with the screenplay by Paul Durst and Alun Falconer from the novel...
(1963) - Young constable - The Beauty JungleThe Beauty Jungle-Plot:While on a seaside holiday a young typist is persuaded by a local journalist to enter a beauty contest. When she wins, she decides to give up her previous career and life and take up entering the contests full-time.-Cast:*Ian Hendry as Don Mackenzie...
(1964) - Harry - Becket (1964) - Brother John
- WitchcraftWitchcraft (1964 film)Witchcraft is a 1964 British black and white horror film. It was directed by Don Sharp from a script by Harry Spalding. It stars Lon Chaney Jr. in one of his last proper acting roles.-Plot:...
(1964) - Todd Lanier - The Masque of The Red DeathThe Masque of the Red Death (film)The Masque of the Red Death is a 1964 British horror film starring Vincent Price in a tale about a prince who terrorizes a plague-ridden peasantry while merrymaking in a lonely castle with his jaded courtiers. The film was directed by Roger Corman; the screenplay by Charles Beaumont and R...
(1964) - Gino - The Heroes of TelemarkThe Heroes of TelemarkThe Heroes of Telemark is a 1965 war film directed by Anthony Mann based on the true story of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage during World War II...
(1965) - Arne - The Legend of Young Dick Turpin (1966) - Dick TurpinDick TurpinRichard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...
- The Winter's Tale (1968) - FlorizelFlorizel (The Winter's Tale)Florizel is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.Florizel is the son of Polixenes – King of Bohemia. He falls in love with Perdita, and wishes to marry her. His father objects to the marriage, however, and warns Florizel that his inheritance will be revoked if he ever seeks...
- The Red BaronVon Richthofen and BrownVon Richthofen and Brown also known as The Red Baron, is a film directed by Roger Corman, and starring John Phillip Law and Don Stroud as the titular characters....
(1971) - Murphy - Quest for Love (1971) - Johnny Prescott
- Nobody Ordered Love (1972) - Jacques Legrand