David Swift (actor)

For other people of the same name, see David Swift (disambiguation).

David Swift
Born	3 April 1931 (1931-04-03) (age 80) Liverpool, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1961–2004
Spouse	Paula Jacobs (?–present)

David Swift (born 3 April 1931) is a British actor.

He was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at Clifton College and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied law. He then embarked on a career as a businessman with his father-in-law, J.P Jacobs, whose company supplied all the elastic to Marks & Spencer.

Swift made his television debut in 1961. In 1979 he appeared as Dingley alongside Richard Beckinsale in the BBC situation comedy Bloomers and also appeared in several episodes of Going Straight. But it was the role of irascible newsreader Henry Davenport in the topical comedy Drop the Dead Donkey, written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, for which Swift became best known. He has also made occasional appearances as God in the Radio 4 comedy Old Harry's Game, also written by Hamilton.

Swift is the brother of another actor, Clive Swift of Keeping Up Appearances fame, with whom he has sometimes performed, and therefore the uncle of the academic Adam Swift and the television personality Joe Swift. He is also the father of actress Julia Swift and father-in-law of actor David Bamber.

Selected filmography

Film

• Travels with My Aunt (1972)
• The Day of the Jackal (1973)
• No Sex Please, We're British (1973)
• Who Killed Lamb? (1974, TV film)
• The Internecine Project (1974)
• The Assignment (1977)
• The Black Panther (1977)
• We Think the World of You (1988)
• Jack & Sarah (1995)

Television

• War and Peace BBC (1972) Napoleon Bonaparte
• Bloomers (1979) Dingley
• Day of the Triffids (1981)
• Drop the Dead Donkey (1990–1998) Henry Davenport

External links

• David Swift at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Swift, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 April 1931
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Date of death
Place of death