David Neal (13 February 1932 – 27 June 2000) was a British television actor, active from the 1960s into the 1990s. He is chiefly remembered for a range of supporting roles in major productions.
Multiple supporting roles in popular television
Although very rarely cast in a lead role, David Neal had significant supporting roles in episodes of a range of popular British television series, including ''
Softly, Softly'', ''
Z-Cars
''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...
'', ''
Doctor Who'', ''
Inspector Morse
Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...
'', ''
Poirot'', ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused on ...
'', ''
Wycliffe Wycliffe (and other similar spellings) may refer to:
People
*John Wycliffe (and other spellings) (c.1320s – 1384), English theologian and Bible translator
* Wycliffe (name), includes a list of other people with the name
Places
* Wycliffe, Count ...
'' and ''
Noah's Castle''. He also did radio voice work.
Classical acting
David Neal worked in a broad range of roles during his career. In 1970 he took a major supporting role (
Cinna) in the all-star feature film of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Julius Caesar'' (which starred
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film '' The Ten ...
,
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
,
Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and singer, who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show '' Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several TV mini-series, such as ''Shō ...
,
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series ''The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On He ...
and Sir
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
). A few years later (in 1979) he secured another significant supporting role as
Richard le Scrope,
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...
in both ''
Henry IV, Part 1
''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...
'' and ''
Henry IV, Part 2'' in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
's major '
complete works of Shakespeare
''Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' is the standard name given to any volume containing all the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. Some editions include several works that were not completely of Shakespeare's authorship (collaborati ...
' series of television films.
He later appeared in
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1 ...
's productions of ''
Timon of Athens
''Timon of Athens'' (''The Life of Tymon of Athens'') is a play written by William Shakespeare and probably also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the '' First Folio'' in 1623. Timon lavishes his wealth on parasitic compani ...
'' and ''
Antony and Cleopatra
''Antony and Cleopatra'' ( First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in arou ...
'' for the same series.
[
]
''The Flockton Flyer''
Although Neal is not remembered for lead roles, an exception is the 1970s' children's television production ''The Flockton Flyer
''The Flockton Flyer'' was a children's TV series made by Southern Television for the ITV network. It was a popular programme, which ran to two series, and provided early screen appearances for upcoming actors such as Peter Duncan and Gwyn ...
'', written by Peter Whitbread
Peter Bruce Pauling Whitbread (25 October 1928 – 26 October 2004) was an English actor and screenwriter.
He was born in Norfolk, England and educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk.
He had a long career in the theatre, including se ...
, in which he played the principal character, Bob Carter. The programme ran to two series, with an associated paperback novel. He later played the lead role of the father in the 1980 TV series ''Noah's Castle'' with Simon Gipps-Kent
Simon Gipps-Kent (born Simon Trevor Kent; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987) was a prolificAlistair D. McGown & Mark J. Dochert''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia'' British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97. 20 ...
and Mike Reid.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, David
English male stage actors
English male film actors
English male television actors
British male Shakespearean actors
2000 deaths
1932 births
20th-century British male actors