David Haig
| David Haig | |
|---|---|
| Born |
David Haig Collum Ward 20 September 1955 Aldershot, Hampshire, England |
| Occupation | Actor, writer |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Gray (m. 2010) |
| Children | 5 |
David Haig Collum Ward, MBE (born 20 September 1955) is an Olivier Award-winning English actor and FIPA Award-winning writer. He is known for playing dramatic, serio-comic and comedic roles, and playing characters of varied social classes. He has appeared in stage productions in the West End and done numerous TV and film roles over the past 25 years.
Career
Film and television
He appeared in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral[1] and had a secondary lead in the BBC television sitcom The Thin Blue Line playing Inspector Grim, the inept foil to Rowan Atkinson's Inspector Fowler. In 2002 he played the brother of Four Weddings' co-star Hugh Grant in the romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice, alongside Sandra Bullock. In 2007, He appeared in a Comic Relief sketch called "Mr. Bean's Wedding" as the bride's father, reuniting with his Thin Blue Line co-star Rowan Atkinson.
Other TV work includes Doctor Who story The Leisure Hive (1980); Blake's 7 episode "Rumours of Death" (1980); Campion story Sweet Danger (1990); Inspector Morse episode "Dead On Time" (1992); and Cracker. In the 1990s he appeared in season 1 of the TV series Soldier Soldier.
He appears in the Richard Fell adaptation of the 1960s science fiction series A for Andromeda, on the UK digital television station BBC Four. Haig wrote the play My Boy Jack and later appeared in the television adaptation[1] as Rudyard Kipling, with Daniel Radcliffe playing Kipling's son, John.
In 2008, he appeared in the BBC film Dustbin Baby and The 39 Steps. He also appeared in the Midsomer Murders episode "The Glitch". In 2009 he appeared as Steve Fleming in BBC TV's The Thick Of It and as Jon, husband to former MP Mo Mowlam in the hugely successful drama Mo opposite Julie Walters. Also in 2009, he appeared in two episodes as the headmaster of Portwenn Primary School, Mr Straine on ITV comedy drama Doc Martin.
In January 2013 Haig started appearing as Jim Hacker in a re-make of classic 1980s comedy series Yes Prime Minister, broadcast on Gold TV in the United Kingdom.[2]
In 2012 a new sitcom pilot, starring Haig and written by Ben Elton, was filmed for the BBC.[3] Filming for a full six-part series of the sitcom, The Wright Way (formerly known as Slings and Arrows) was completed in March 2013, and began airing on BBC One on 23 April.[4]
Radio
In 2008, he played Maurice Haigh-Wood in the BBC Radio adaptation of Michael Hasting's play Tom and Viv, and 2010 he starred as Norman Birkett in Norman Birkett and the Case of the Coleford Poisoner on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play series.. He also played Lewis Eliot in C. P. Snow's "Strangers and Brothers" on Radio 4 in 2003, repeated on Radio 4 Extra February 2013.
Stage
He also won an Olivier Award in 1988 for Actor of the Year in a New Play, for his performance in Our Country's Good at the Royal Court in Sloane Square. He toured Britain with the stage version of My Boy Jack, which he wrote, and in which he played Rudyard Kipling and directed a production of Private Lives by Noël Coward, which made a national tour in 2005.
Haig has appeared in several stage productions in London's West End, including Hitchcock Blonde at the Royal Court, Life X 3 at the Savoy Theatre, as the character Osborne in R.C. Sherriff's play Journey's End at the Comedy Theatre, and as Mr George Banks in Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre for which he received an Olivier Award nomination. He was also nominated for playing Christopher Headingley in a revival of Michael Frayn's comedy Donkeys' Years at the Comedy Theatre. Having appeared in the role of Pinchwife in the comedy The Country Wife at the Royal Haymarket Theatre in London, he appeared in The Sea at the same theatre. Haig's next role was Truscott in the Joe Orton black farce Loot at London's Tricycle Theatre from 11 December 2008 to 31 January 2009 and at Theatre Royal, Newcastle, 2 to 7 February 2009.
In 2010 he played the role of Jim Hacker in the stage version of Yes, Prime Minister[5] at the Chichester Festival Gielgud Theatre, in London's West End from 17 September 2010.[6]
Personal life
Haig was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, to Francis W. and Shirley R. C. (née Brooks) Ward, an army officer, later director of the Hayward Gallery, and opera singer, respectively, and educated at Rugby School. He currently lives in South London with his wife Julia. The couple have five children. Haig and his wife are patrons of SANDS, a charity which deals with stillbirth and neonatal death.[7]
Haig was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama.[8]
Theatre work
TV and filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Moon Stallion | Todman | TV series |
| 1980 | Blake's 7 | Forres | TV series (1 episode: "Rumours of Death") |
| Doctor Who | Pangol | TV series (4 episodes) | |
| 1983 | Chessgame | Colin Jenkins | TV series (1 episode: "Flying Blind") |
| A Flame to the Phoenix | Mirek Grabinski | ||
| 1984 | Dark Enemy | Ash | |
| 1985 | Morons from Outer Space | Palatial House Flunkey | |
| 1986 | The Alamut Ambush | Colin Jenkins | TV movie |
| Cold War Killers | Colin Jenkins | TV movie | |
| 1989 | Hannay | Conrad Smyth | TV series (1 episode: "The Good Samaritan") |
| Dramarama | Bill Brock | TV series (1 episode: "Badger") | |
| 1990 | Campion | Cully Randall/Guffy Randall | TV series (2 episodes) |
| Portrait of a Marriage | Harold Nicolson | TV series (4 episodes) | |
| 1991 | Chancer | Dr. Haselden | TV series (1 episode: "Remembrance") |
| Soldier Soldier | Major Tom Cadman | TV series (7 episodes) | |
| 1992 | Inspector Morse | Peter Rhodes | TV series (1 episode: "Dead on Time") |
| Boon | Jim Fisk | TV series (1 episode: "Is There Anybody There?") | |
| 1993 | The Darling Buds of May | Captain Robert Battersby | TV series (2 episodes) |
| Alleyn Mysteries | Arthur Wilde | TV series (1 episode: "A Man Lay Dead") | |
| Cracker | Graham | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 1994 | Four Weddings and Funeral | Bernard, the Groom - Wedding Two | |
| The Bill | Brian Linton | TV series (1 episode: "Secrets") | |
| Love on a Branch Line | Lionel Virley | TV series (4 episodes) | |
| Nice Day at the Office | Chris Selwyn | TV series (6 episodes) | |
| 1995 | Wycliffe | David Millar | TV series (1 episode: "Charades") |
| The Four Corners of Nowhere | Nick | ||
| The Thin Blue Line | D.I. Grim | TV series (14 episodes: 1995-1996) | |
| 1997 | Keeping Mum | Richard Beare | TV series (16 episodes: 1997-1998) |
| 1998 | Talking Heads 2 | Wilfred Paterson | TV mini-series (1 episode: "Playing Sandwiches") |
| 1999 | The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Tales of Innocence | Colonel Bonnet | video |
| 2000 | Dalziel and Pascoe | David Hallingsworth | TV series (1 episode: "A Sweeter Lazarus") |
| 2001 | Ivor the Invisible | Park Keeper | voice |
| Station Jim | Riorden Jnr | TV movie | |
| 2002 | Crime and Punishment | Luhzin | TV movie |
| Rachel's Attic | Adam | ||
| Two Weeks Notice | Howard Wade | ||
| 2004 | Hustle | Sir Anthony Reeves | TV series (1 episode: "The Last Gamble") |
| 2006 | A for Andromeda | General Vandenburg | |
| 2007 | Comic Relief 2007: The Big One | Kate's Dad | TV movie |
| Church Going | Priest | short | |
| My Boy Jack | Rudyard Kipling | TV movie | |
| 2008 | Dickens Secret Lover | Charles Dickens | TV movie |
| Agatha Christie's Marple: Murder Is Easy | Major Hugh Horton | TV movie | |
| Dustin Baby | Elliot | TV movie | |
| The 39 Steps | Sir George Sinclair | TV movie | |
| 2009 | My Family | Jeremy Livingstone | TV series (1 episode: "The Guru") |
| Midsomer Murders | George Jeffers | TV series (1 episode: "The Glitch") | |
| Doc Martin | Mr Straine (Headmaster of Portwenn Primary School) | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| The Thick of It | Steve Fleming | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 2010 | Mo | Jon Norton | TV movie |
| 2011 | The Half-Light | Man | short |
| Strike Back | Christopher Manning | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 2013 | Yes Minister | Jim Hacker | TV series (6 episodes) |
| 2013 | The Wright Way | Gerald Wright | TV series (6 episodes) |
| 2016 | Florence Foster Jenkins | Carlo Edwards | |
References
- 1 2 3 Lisa Sewards (6 January 2012). "Man behind the moustache: David Haig's made a career out of his trademark 'tache. Now it's come off for a new theatre role". Mail Online. London: Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ↑ Laura Caroe (15 January 2013). "No, my PM is not Cam". The Sun. London: News Group Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ↑ "New sitcom from Ben Elton". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
- ↑ Patrick Munn (5 January 2013). "Kacey Ainsworth, Rufus Jones & Michael Falzon Cast In BBC One's Ben Elton Sitcom". Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ↑ "Stage plan for Yes Prime Minister". BBC News. 18 February 2010.
- ↑ "Chicester Minister Bound for Gielgud, 17 Sep". Whats On Stage website. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
- ↑ "David Haig: 'My younger sister's death from a brain haemorrhage at 22 when I was 26 made me realise that nothing is certain'". Daily Mail. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60534. p. 24. 15 June 2013.
- ↑ Spencer, Charles (24 January 2012). "The Madness of George III". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ Benedictus, Leo (25 May 2010). "Yes Prime Minister". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Loot". Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ Taylor, Paul (25 January 2008). "The Sea". London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "The Country Wife". Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Donkey's Years". Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Mary Poppins". Musicalheaven.com. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Journey's End". Indielondon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Hitchcock Blonde". Royalcourttheatre.com. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Life x3". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Art". Londontheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "My Boy Jack". Nritishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Measure for Measure". Rscshakespeare.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "Tom and Viv". Thebeautifulchanges.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-24.