David Purdham (born June 3, 1951) is an American

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

who has appeared in approximately one hundred films, television series and theatre productions throughout his career.

Career

Purdham was born and raised in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. His first film role was in 1984, in ''

Lily in Love ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world ...

''. Other film credits include ''

Defending Your Life ''Defending Your Life'' is a 1991 American romantic comedy-fantasy film about a man who finds himself on trial in the afterlife, where proceedings examine his lifelong fears, to determine whether he'll be (yet again) reincarnated on Earth, or ...

'' (1991), ''

My Girl 2 ''My Girl 2'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film. A sequel to the 1991 film '' My Girl'', it was directed by Howard Zieff from a screenplay written by Janet Kovalcik, and starring Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Anna Chlumsky and Austin O'Brie ...

'' (1994), ''

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...

'' (2003), and ''

Fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

'' (2007). Purdham has appeared in many television shows since 1980. He played Father Emmerich in the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

, ''

Ryan's Hope ''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in ...

'', from 1981 to 1985, and from 1991 to 1992 he portrayed Fred Porter in the soap opera, ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

''. He has had recurring roles in ''

Kate & Allie ''Kate & Allie'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from March 19, 1984, to May 22, 1989, starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as two divorced mothers who decide to live together and raise their children in the same ...

'' (1987), ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'' (1997), ''

Port Charles ''Port Charles'' (commonly abbreviated as ''PC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from June 1, 1997, to October 3, 2003. It was a spin-off of the series ''General Hospital'', which has been running since 1963 and takes p ...

'' (2000), '' JAG'' (1997, 2001), ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'' (2006), ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'' (2010–11), and more. He has also guest-starred in countless TV programs, such as the cult science fiction series, ''

Alien Nation ''Alien Nation'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Rockne S. O'Bannon (later known for ''Farscape''), comprising film, television, and other media productions about alien refugees living on Earth. The series began with ...

'' (1990) as Marc Guerin, reprising the role for the 1994 TV movie, '' Alien Nation: Dark Horizon''; crime shows '' Matlock'' (1994), ''

Diagnosis Murder ''Diagnosis: Murder'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery medical drama, medical crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son Steve, a homicide detective ...

'' (1997), ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, to Decem ...

'' (2005) and ''

Perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

'' (2015); and comedies ''

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 ...

'' (1996) and ''

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is most known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom '' George Lopez''. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican ...

'' (2004). Purdham has also starred in several plays—a 1982 production of '' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (1982), a 1991 production of '' Absent Friends'', and a 1993 production of ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

''. Purdham's voice acting includes video games and audiobooks.

Partial filmography

Film Television

References

External links

* 1951 births American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male stage actors American male television actors Male actors from San Antonio Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors {{US-screen-actor-1950s-stub