David Wood (actor)
Encyclopedia
David Wood OBE
(born 21 February 1944 in Sutton
, Surrey, England) is an English-born actor and writer, called "the National Children's Dramatist" by The Times
.
He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys
and Worcester College, Oxford
.
Wood has been actor, composer, producer, director, lyric writer, magician, author and playwright. Wood is a leading writer and director of plays and musicals for children, with a host of successes to his name, including Fantastic Mr Fox, BFG, The See-Saw Tree, The Twits, The Witches, Noddy, Meg and Mog, Spot, Rupert the Bear and Babe the Sheep Pig. His most famous story, The Gingerbread Man, has been all around the world since it was first performed at London’s Old Vic
in 1977.
Among his film roles are Johnny in Lindsay Anderson
's If.... (1968) and Thompson in Aces High
(1976). He appeared as the character Bingo Little in the original London cast of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
and Alan Ayckbourn
musical Jeeves
in 1975.
He was the writer of the screenplay of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons
, released by Anglo EMI Ltd (1974).
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire
) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to literature and drama.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 21 February 1944 in Sutton
London Borough of Sutton
The London Borough of Sutton is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It is one of the southernmost boroughs of London...
, Surrey, England) is an English-born actor and writer, called "the National Children's Dramatist" 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...
.
He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys
Chichester High School For Boys
Chichester High School for Boys, often referred to as CHSB, is a community school, with specialist status of Business and Enterprise College, for boys aged 11 to 18 located in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England...
and Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
.
Wood has been actor, composer, producer, director, lyric writer, magician, author and playwright. Wood is a leading writer and director of plays and musicals for children, with a host of successes to his name, including Fantastic Mr Fox, BFG, The See-Saw Tree, The Twits, The Witches, Noddy, Meg and Mog, Spot, Rupert the Bear and Babe the Sheep Pig. His most famous story, The Gingerbread Man, has been all around the world since it was first performed at London’s Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
in 1977.
Among his film roles are Johnny in Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
's If.... (1968) and Thompson in Aces High
Aces High (film)
Aces High is a 1976 British war film directed by Jack Gold and starring Malcolm McDowell, Christopher Plummer and Simon Ward. The screenplay was written by Howard Barker. As acknowledged in the opening credits, the film is based on the 1930s play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff and the memoir...
(1976). He appeared as the character Bingo Little in the original London cast of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
and Alan Ayckbourn
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
musical Jeeves
By Jeeves
By Jeeves, originally Jeeves, is a 1975/1996 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn, based on the novels of P. G. Wodehouse....
in 1975.
He was the writer of the screenplay of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons
Swallows and Amazons
Swallows and Amazons is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome; it was first published in 1930, with the action taking place in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District...
, released by Anglo EMI Ltd (1974).
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to literature and drama.