Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

David Bamber

 
Actor: David Bamber
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Sep 19, 1954
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Rome: The Kalends of February, Rome: The Stolen Eagle, The Merchant of Venice
  • First Major Screen Credit: Neville's Island (1998)

Biography

Walkden, England, native David Bamber nearly avoided the proscenium altogether, with early plans to enter a training program for special education instructors. At the last yawning moment, however, Bamber decided to jump ship and head into acting, courtesy of the dramatic arts program at Bristol University and -- later -- a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). As a student, the thespian distinguished himself from many of his colleagues by acquiring a marked preference for contemporary material over classicist plays. As a stage actor, Bamber (though openly heterosexual, with a wife and children) sustained a particularly fine reputation for convincing portrayals of (often repressed) gay characters in such plays as My Night with Reg and Pride and Prejudice. He also gained recognition for comic physicality deemed brilliant by many critics. In terms of on-camera work, Bamber's work (somewhat ironically) has leaned more toward period material than his stage efforts. Following an appearance in the all-star British seriocomedy Privates on Parade (1982), he signed for roles in such projects as the made-for-television outings The Merchant of Venice (2001) and Pollyanna (2002), and the HBO miniseries Rome (2005) as Marcus Tillius Cicero. In 2008, Bamber joined co-stars Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh, and others for the Cruise-produced Hitler assassination thriller Valkyrie with a frightening turn as Adolf Hitler. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: David Bamber
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
For the former professional footballer, see Dave Bamber.
 This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (December 2008) Find sources: (David Bamber – news, books, scholar)
David Bamber
Born David James Bamber
19 September 1954 (1954-09-19) (age 55)
Walkden, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Occupation Actor
Spouse(s) Julia Swift (1982-present)

David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is a British actor, known for his television and theatre work. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Bamber was born in Walkden near Manchester, and studied drama at Bristol University and continued his studies at RADA where he won the Gold Medal in 1976.

Career

Bamber has worked on many British television series and mini-series and TV movies. He appeared in the BBC adaptations of Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia, and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in which he memorably portrayed Mr Collins. In 1997 he starred as Eric Slatt in two series of Steven Moffat's Chalk, and contributed to the audio commentaries for the DVD release in 2008. His most famous international television role to date is the role of Marcus Tullius Cicero in the HBO/BBC2 original television series, Rome. David is about to start work on a revival of the popular 1980s television show Minder. In 2009 David will starting shooting a brand new comedy series for the BBC.

Bamber is also a theatre actor, who won the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance as Guy in My Night with Reg, a role he reprised the role in the 1996 BBC television adaptation.

Bamber's roles as a voice actor include Emperor Constantine in the Doctor Who audio drama, The Council of Nicaea and as Jeremy Longstaff in the 2008 radio series The Way We Live Right Now.

Bamber plays Adolf Hitler in Bryan Singer's film, Valkyrie, which was released on 25 December 2008 in the USA and 22 January 2009 in the UK. Later in 2009 he appeared in the ITV1 drama, Collision.

Personal life

In 1982, Bamber married actress Julia Swift, daughter of actor David Swift. They have two sons, Theo (1991) and Ethan (1998). The family currently lives in North London.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1982 Privates on Parade Flight Sgt. Charles Bishop Michael Blakemore
1988 High Hopes Rupert Booth-Braine Directed by Mike Leigh
1992 Dakota Road Man on the train Directed by Nick Ward
1992 Year of the Comet Albert Directed by Peter Yates
1995 Pride and Prejudice Mr. Collins Directed by Simon Langton
1996 Wet and Dry Bafta nominated short directed by John McKay
2002 Gangs of New York Passenger Directed by Martin Scorsese
2002 The Bourne Identity Consulate Clerk Directed by Doug Liman
2003 I Capture the Castle Vicar Directed by Tim Fywell
2005 The Clap Krzysztof Veneer Award winning short directed by Geoff Lindsey
2006 Miss Potter Fruing Warne Directed by Chris Noonan
2007 The All Together Robin Swain Directed by Gavin Claxton
2008 Valkyrie Adolf Hitler Directed by Bryan Singer

References

External links

v • d • e
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor

Antony Sher (1985) · Albert Finney (1986) · Michael Gambon (1987) · Oliver Ford Davies (1990) · Ian McKellen (1991) · Nigel Hawthorne (1992) · Robert Stephens (1993) · Mark Rylance (1994) · David Bamber (1995) · Alex Jennings (1996) · Antony Sher (1997) · Ian Holm (1998) · Kevin Spacey (1999) · Henry Goodman (2000) · Conleth Hill (2001) · Roger Allam (2002) · Simon Russell Beale (2003) · Matthew Kelly (2004) · Richard Griffiths (2005) · Brian Dennehy (2006) · Rufus Sewell (2007) · Chiwetel Ejiofor (2008) Derek Jacobi (2009)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "David Bamber".  Read more