- David Bradley (actor)
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For the actor who starred in Kes, see Dai Bradley.
David Bradley 
Bradley in 2009Born 17 April 1942
York, EnglandOccupation Actor Years active 1971–present David Bradley (born 17 April 1942) is an English character actor. He has recently become known for playing the caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch, in the Harry Potter film franchise.
Contents
Life and career
Bradley was born in York, England. He became an actor in 1971 acting at Sir Laurence Olivier's National Theatre.[1] He first appeared on television that year in the successful comedy Nearest and Dearest playing a police officer. He was awarded a Laurence Olivier Award in 1991 for his supporting actor role in King Lear at the Royal National Theatre. He has appeared in the Royal National Theatre's 1997 production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, as well as productions of Pinter's The Caretaker at Sheffield Theatres and the Tricycle Theatre in London in 2006/2007.
Bradley starred in the BBC comedy series Wild West playing the character of Jake. He played fictional Labour Member of Parliament Eddie Wells in the 1996 award-winning BBC Two serial Our Friends in the North. In 1998 he appeared in the BBC adaptations of William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair and Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend as the miserly Sir Pitt Crawley and the villainous Rouge Riderhood, respectively. Other television appearances include the 2001 series, The Way We Live Now directed by David Yates, who would work with Bradley five years later on the Harry Potter films.
Bradley was also involved in the musical drama serial Blackpool on BBC One, the 2005 BBC television drama Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle, playing the part of the morose coach driver taking an unruly party of pupils on a daytrip to Salisbury Cathedral and the 2006 BBC drama Sweeney Todd, playing the father opposite Ray Winstone, and a small part in a 2006 episode of the series Taggart. Also in 2006 he played a leading character, Tom, in an episode of Midsomer Murders. He also appears as the character Stemroach in the BBC comedy series Ideal and as Electric in the BBC's Thieves Like Us, and in the BBC1 series True Dare Kiss. He also starred in Reckless alongside Robson Green, and in the movie Lycanthropy, as the owner of the nightclub hosting a gang of werewolf-inspired criminals.
Bradley appeared in Nicholas Nickleby (2002) and had a small role in the 2007 comedy film Hot Fuzz as a farmer who illegally hoarded weapons. Bradley played Cohen the Barbarian[2] in a Sky One adaptation of The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.
In 2008 appeared in the role of Spooner in No Man's Land by Harold Pinter in the Gate Theatre, Dublin, opposite Michael Gambon as Hirst, in a production directed by Rupert Goold, which transferred to the London West End's.
On 4 May 2009 Bradley appeared as an animal rights activist in the popular BBC drama Ashes to Ashes, and appeared again on television in BBC's The Street on 20 July 2009.
Bradley portrayed Will Somers, Henry VIII's court fool, in episode #3.5 of the Showtime series The Tudors (2009).
In 2010 he participated in the Mike Leigh film Another Year, which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the London Film Critics Circle Awards.
In 2011 Bradley appeared in the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels, as the 'Late' Lord Walder Frey.[3]
He serves as the president of Second Thoughts Drama Group, which performs in and around Stratford-upon-Avon.[4]
David Bradley is a massive fan of Aston Villa Football Club.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes 1995 Criminal Headmaster 1996 In Your Dreams Tutor Television 1997 The Moth Dave Waters Made-for-television film 1998 Our Mutual Friend Rogue Riderhood Television mini-series 1998 Tom's Midnight Garden Abel 1998 Left Luggage Concierge 2000 The King Is Alive Henry 2001 The Way We Live Now Mr. Broune Television mini-series 2001 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Argus Filch 2001 Gabriel and Me Granddad 2001 Blow Dry Noah Thwaite 2002 This Is Not a Love Song Mr Bellamy 2002 Nicholas Nickleby Nigel Bray 2002 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Argus Filch 2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Argus Filch 2004 Exorcist: The Beginning Father Gionetti 2005 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Argus Filch 2006 Lycanthropy Club Owner 2007 Hot Fuzz Arthur Webley 2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Argus Filch 2008 I Know You Know Mr. Fisher 2008 The Colour of Magic Cohen the Barbarian 2009 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Argus Filch 2009 Harry Brown Leonard 2009 The Tudors Will Somers Television series 2010 Another Year Ronnie 2010 The Holding Cooper 2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Argus Filch 2011 Game of Thrones Walder Frey Television series 2011 Waking the Dead George Barlow Television series 2011 Captain America: The First Avenger Tower Keeper References
- ^ NATIONAL THEATRE: 1970s ROB WILTON THEATRICALIA. accessed 25 July 2011.
- ^ Roz Laws (15 June 2007). "Harry Potter and the Magical Midlanders" (Web). Sunday Mercury. Trinity Mirror. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaymercury/features/tm_headline=harry-potter-and-the-magical-midlanders%26method=full%26objectid=19463171%26siteid=50002-name_page.html. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
- ^ George R.R. Martin (24 November 2010). "wedding guest". http://grrm.livejournal.com/184176.html?thread=11366512#t11366512. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
- ^ Second Thoughts Our President for several years now has been David Bradley.
External links
Categories:- 1942 births
- English film actors
- English television actors
- Living people
- People from York
- Laurence Olivier Award winners
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