David Rintoul (born David Wilson; 29 November 1948) is a Scottish stage and television actor. Rintoul was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland. He studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, and won a scholarship to study at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

in London.

Theatre career

Rintoul has worked extensively in theatre with companies including the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

and

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

. His appearances have included Shakespeare's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', '' Henry IV'', ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'', and the title role in ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''. Other stage appearances include George Bernard Shaw's '' Candida'' and '' Funny Girl''. In 2010 he played Charles Dickens in ''Andersen's English'', the new play by Sebastian Barry.

Selected theatre roles

*''

Epsom Downs Epsom Downs is an area of chalk downland, chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the Epsom Downs Racecourse, racecourse; the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 and are ...

'', Joint Stock Theatre Company, 1977 * King Humanitie, '' Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites'', Scottish Theatre Company,

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

, 1982 *''The Speculator'' by David Greig – 1999 Traverse Theatre production at the

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

, played John Law, and other roles *'' Remembrance of Things Past'', Cottesloe and Olivier theatres, November 2000 – April 2001, as Charlus *''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romance film, romantic drama film, drama Dance in film, dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tel ...

'' ( Aldwych Theatre, London) as Dr Jake Houseman *'' Gaslight'' (

, Edinburgh) *''Andersen's English'' by Sebastian Barry ( Out of Joint and

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Clu ...

), as

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, 2010 *'' Nell Gwynn'' (Shakespeare's Globe) as Arlington, 2015

Television and film career

Rintoul's film credits include the title role in '' Legend of the Werewolf'' (1975), '' A.D.'' (1985), '' Unrelated'' (2007) and '' Is Anybody There?'' (2008). In 2010, he starred in the film '' The Ghost Writer'' with

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

and

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...

. In 1980, he played the role of Mr Darcy in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television adaptation by Fay Weldon of ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

''. From 1993 to 1996 he played '' Doctor Finlay'' in the television series of the same name. His other television appearances include ''

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

'', ''

Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries ''Killer'' from 6 until 20 Septe ...

'', '' Hornblower'' and the ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...

film, The Mysterious Affair at Styles''. He voices three characters, Granddad Dog, Mr. Bull and Dr. Brown Bear, in the popular children's series ''

Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation and formerly produced by Astley Baker Davies, the show follows Peppa, an anthro ...

.'' He also voiced the knight 'Sir Boris' in the 1999 animation '' The Big Knights'' and the arch villain Cut Throat Jake in the newer version of '' Captain Pugwash''. He played the role of

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

in the 2013

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

's '' The Bible''. In 2016 he portrayed Aerys Targaryen in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' in Season 6.

Selected television roles

*''

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

'' as Philip Ross (1 episode, "You'll Never Walk Alone", 1978) *''

'' (2 episodes, 1990 and 2005) *'' Hornblower'' as Dr. Clive, Ship's Surgeon (2001 and 2003) *'' Doctor Finlay'' as Dr. John Finlay (1993–1996) *'' Alleyn Mysteries'' as Sir John Phillips (1993) *''

- The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' as John Cavendish (1990) *''

'' as Fitzwilliam Darcy (1980 adaptation) * ''

'' (1979) as Dr John Willis *'' Lillie'' (1978) as Charles Longley * ''

Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...

- Five Red Herrings'' as Jock Graham (1975) *'' Captain Pugwash'' (1998 version) as Cut Throat Jake / Governor of Portobello / Lieutenant Scratchwood / The Admiral *'' The Big Knights'' as Sir Boris *''

'' as Granddad Dog / Mr. Bull / Dr. Brown Bear *'' Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom'' as Redbeard the Elf Pirate *''

'' as Aerys II Targaryen *''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

'' as Michael Adeane *''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'' “Blood on the Saddle” (2010) as Jack Fincher

Selected video games

*'' El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron'' as Azazel *'' Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers'' as Ran'jit *''

RuneScape ''RuneScape'' is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex, released in January 2001. ''RuneScape'' was originally a browser game built with the Java (programming language), Java progr ...

'' as Zaros *'' Warhammer: Vermintide 2'' as Bardin Goreksson *''

Baldur's Gate 3 ''Baldur's Gate 3'' is a 2023 role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main installment of the ''Baldur's Gate'' series, based on the tabletop fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. A partial ...

'' as Bane *'' Blasphemous 2'' as Trifón *'' Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures'' as Duncan McBiscuit

Audiobook narration

Rintoul has narrated many audiobooks, including

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth ( ; 25 August 1938 – 9 June 2025) was an English novelist and journalist. He was best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', ''The Fourth Protocol'', ''The Dogs of War (novel), ...

's '' The Day of the Jackal'' and J. G. Ballard's '' Millennium People''. In 1986, he recorded unabridged readings of all of Ian Fleming's

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

novels and short stories for Chivers Audio Books (with the exception of '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', which has a first person female narrator). He also later recorded '' Nobody Lives Forever'' and ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

'', written by John Gardner. Whilst reading the prose with his usual speaking voice, Rintoul speaks Bond's dialogue with a mild Scottish accent. He also narrated Robert Harris's ''

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

'', the final volume of his Cicero trilogy. Rintoul took over this role from Bill Wallis, who had read the previous two books, ''

Imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from '' auctoritas'' and '' potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic a ...

'' and ''

Lustrum A lūstrum (, plural lūstra) was a term for a five-year period in Ancient Rome. It is distinct from the homograph ''lustrum'' ( ): a haunt of wild beasts (and figuratively, a den of vice), plural ''lustra'' ( ).Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary (2 ...

'', but died two years before ''Dictators publication. He has narrated two young people's books, '' The Boggart'' (2009) and ''The Boggart and the Monster'' (2013) written by Susan Cooper. Since 2015, he has been narrating the character of Sir James Powell in the audio drama series '' John Sinclair – Demon Hunter''. In 2016 Rintoul narrated Philippe Sands' ''East West Street – the Origins of "

Genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

" and "

Crimes Against Humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

"'', and in 2018 he narrated Dorothy Dunnett's novel of Macbeth '' King Hereafter''.

Personal life

Rintoul is married to actress Vivien Heilbron. A friend and University of Edinburgh classmate of

Ian Charleson Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Academy Award, Oscar-winning 1981 film ''Chariots ...

, Rintoul contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, ''For Ian Charleson: A Tribute''.Ian McKellen, Alan Bates, Hugh Hudson, et al
''For Ian Charleson: A Tribute''
London: Constable and Company, 1990. pp. 47–54. His brother, Dougie Wilson, is a stage manager and £250,000 winner on '' Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'' His sister Dorothy is married to the artist Alain Senez.

Notes

References

* Theatre Record and its annual Indexes

External links

*
David Rintoul Bio
at th
London Shakespeare Workout
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rintoul, David 1948 births Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Audiobook narrators Living people Scottish male voice actors Scottish male stage actors Scottish male television actors Scottish male Shakespearean actors Scottish expatriates in Spain Royal Shakespeare Company members Male actors from Aberdeen 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors