David Walsh Naughton (born February 13, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his starring roles in the horror film ''

An American Werewolf in London ''An American Werewolf in London'' is a 1981 comedy horror film written and directed by John Landis. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, the film stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne and ...

'' (1981) and the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980), as well as for a long-running "Be a Pepper" ad campaign for beverage maker

Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. Dr Pepper was created in the 1880s by the American pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper in t ...

. He also starred in the short-lived sitcom '' Makin' It'' and sang its hit theme song " Makin' It", giving him a Top 5 hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts.

Early life

Naughton was born on February 13, 1951, in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 20 ...

, the son of Rosemary (née Walsh) and Joseph Naughton, both of whom were teachers. He is the younger of two boys; his older brother is theater and film actor

James Naughton James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. On television he is best known as astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season television series ''Planet of the Apes''. He won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical ...

. His family is

Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

. Naughton attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

. He earned a soccer scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania where he studied drama and graduated in 1973. He then moved to London to further his acting training. After two years in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he moved to New York where he worked as a waiter and pursued his acting career.

Career

Naughton's professional acting debut was in the

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions are ...

's production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' starring

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television, and film. He has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actor ...

. Naughton subsequently found steady work in various other local theater productions. He was an Assistant Stage Manager and Understudy for the Broadway production of

Hugh Leonard Hugh Leonard (9 November 1926 – 12 February 2009) was an Irish dramatist, television writer, and essayist. In a career that spanned 50 years, Leonard wrote nearly 30 full-length plays, 10 one-act plays, three volumes of essay, two autobiograph ...

's ''Da''. Naughton first became widely known as a result of his four-year stint (1977–1981) singing and dancing in television commercials and personal appearances to promote

. The commercials were considered creative and wildly popular. They involved Naughton dancing and singing in a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical style while handing out bottles of the beverage to people who then followed his lead

Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages. The earliest refere ...

style. The commercials won numerous

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; ), also spelled Kleio, Сleio, or Cleo, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre-playing. Etymology Clio's name is derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλείω (meaning ...

awards, and involved a multitude of celebrities from

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

and

Jimmie Walker James Carter Walker Jr. (born June 25, 1947) is an American actor and comedian. He portrayed James ("J.J.") Evans Jr., the older son of James Evans Sr. and Florida Evans, on the CBS television comedy series ''Good Times''. The show ran from 19 ...

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintst ...

and

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar. By 1981, Naughton was at the height of his success as a soft drink spokesperson, but he wanted to try other ventures and decided to end his role in the commercials. Though the main commercial stint ended in 1981, Naughton occasionally returned to the pitchman role for the soft drink. In 1988, he did a commercial for Diet Dr. Pepper that was reminiscent of the earlier commercials. In 2010, Naughton joined a

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people that assembles suddenly in a public place, performs for a brief time, then quickly disperses, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and/or artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organize ...

singing the iconic jingle at the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

. His popularity from the commercials led to him being cast as the star of the sitcom '' Makin' It.'' In 1979, he also recorded the show's theme song, ''

'', which was also titled " Makin' It." A US million selling disc, the track also peaked at No. 44 in the UK Singles Chart. The sitcom itself was less successful and lasted only 9 episodes, but his career continued to blossom. The next year, he starred in his first film, the Disney comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980). That lead role then led to a starring role in a higher profile film: ''

'' (1981). The firm was directed by

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (f ...

, who had already made a name for himself with

National Lampoon's Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hulce, and ...

(1978) and the

Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast members of ...

(1980). ''An American Werewolf in London'' was a comedy-horror film whose special effects and make-up (used to show the werewolf metamorphosis) were particularly innovative for their time.

Rick Baker Richard Alan "Rick" Baker (born December 8, 1950) is a retired American special make-up effects creator and actor. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker has won the Academy Award for Best Makeup a record seven times f ...

's make-up work won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Make-up. The film was a critical and box office hit. After the success of ''An American Werewolf in London'', Naughton continued to work steadily, but never regained the same level of success. He appeared in various lesser known movies, as well as smaller roles in numerous episodes of television shows including ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...

'', ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime-time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex in West Hollywood, ...

'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', '' JAG'', and ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

.'' From 1986-1988, Naughton had a reoccurring role on ''

My Sister Sam ''My Sister Sam'' is an American television sitcom starring Pam Dawber and Rebecca Schaeffer that aired on CBS from October 6, 1986, to April 12, 1988. Synopsis The sitcom follows the lives of a 29-year-old San Francisco freelance photographe ...

'' as the goofy ex-boyfriend of the series' main character, which was played by

Pam Dawber Pamela Dawber (born October 18, 1951) is an American actress known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell on ''Mork & Mindy'' (1978–1982) and Samantha Russell on '' My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988). Early life Dawber was born i ...

. Naughton appeared in 19 episodes. The series had a strong first season, but was cancelled due to low ratings in its second season. The following year, the series co-star, Rebecca Schaefer, was murdered at her apartment by a

stalker Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring t ...

who had pursued her for three years. In the wake of the tragedy, several actors from the sitcom including Naughton did a PSA to raise awareness of handgun violence.

Personal life

Naughton has been married four times and divorced three times. In 2008, he was arrested for domestic violence in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

References

External links

* * * * *

David Naughton David Walsh Naughton (born February 13, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his starring roles in the horror film ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and the Disney comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980), as well as for a lo ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naughton, David 1951 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art American dance musicians American male film actors American male television actors American people of Irish descent Male actors from Connecticut Entertainers from West Hartford, Connecticut University of Pennsylvania alumni