David Bamber

For the former professional footballer, see Dave Bamber.

David Bamber
Bamber in Urban Myths 2019
Born	David James Bamber (1954-09-19) 19 September 1954 (age 70) Walkden, Lancashire, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Julia Swift ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	2, including Ethan
Relatives	David Swift (father-in-law) Paula Jacobs (mother-in-law)

David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. His credits include Privates on Parade (1983), Juliet Bravo (1983), Crown Court (1984), Call Me Mister (1986), The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Chalk (1997), Mile High (2004), Beethoven (2005), Rome (2005-2007), Valkyrie (2008), Psychoville (2009-2011), The Borgias (2011), The Hollow Crown (2012), What Remains (2013), Darkest Hour (2017), Borg vs McEnroe (2017), Peterloo (2018), A Very English Scandal (2018), Flesh and Blood (2020), and The Regime (2024).

His most notable achievement was winning the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance as Guy in My Night with Reg.

Early years

Bamber was born 19 September 1954 in Walkden, Lancashire.^[1] His very first stage performance was aged 5 as a pig in Tom Tom the Piper's Son.^[1] He joined the Manchester Youth Theatre,^[2] playing Pandarus in Troilus and Cressida. Bamber studied acting at Bristol University from 1973 to 1976,^[1] graduating with a drama degree.^[1] He continued his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art(RADA) graduating 1979, with an Acting (RADA Diploma).^[3]

Career

Bamber's first film role was in 1982 as Sergeant Charles Bishop in the World War II comedy Privates on Parade (1983).^[4] he made appearances in Juliet Bravo (1983),^[5] and Crown Court (1984), before securing a regular role as Fred Hurley in Call Me Mister (1986).^[4]

He appeared in the BBC adaptations of Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia (1993),^[5] and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice,^[5] in which he portrayed the Bennets' clergyman cousin, Mr. Collins. He also played the part of a junior treasury minister and stamp collecting enthusiast, Julian Whitaker, in an episode of The New Statesman,^[4] in which Alan frames Whitaker and forces his resignation. In 1997 he starred as Eric Slatt in two series of Steven Moffat's Chalk,^[5]

His best known international television role to date was his 2005–2007 role as Marcus Tullius Cicero in the HBO/BBC2 original television series, Rome.^[5] In Poirot,^[4] Series 3: Episode 7 "The Double Clue," he plays the effete middleman to a jewellery collector who is robbed. Bamber also played Adolf Hitler in Bryan Singer's film, Valkyrie.^[4] He played the part of Noel in the Sky Atlantic series Camping, and Admiral Ramsay in the 2017 film Darkest Hour.^[4]

As a stage actor, Bamber won the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance as Guy in My Night with Reg,^[1] a role he reprised in a 1996 BBC television adaptation.^[5] His roles as a voice actor include Emperor Constantine in the Doctor Who audio drama, The Council of Nicaea and as Jeremy Longstaff in the 2008 radio series The Way We Live Right Now.^[4]

In 2013, he starred as Mathematics teacher Joe Sellers, alongside David Threlfall and Russell Tovey in the murder mystery miniseries What Remains.^[2]

Personal life

Bamber is married to the actress Julia Swift, daughter of actors David Swift and Paula Jacobs. They have two sons, Theo (1991) and Ethan (1998). Ethan has played cricket for England U19s and Middlesex.^[6][7] The family lives in North London.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Privates on Parade	Sergeant Charles Bishop
	The Oresteia	Chorus
1985	The Doctor and the Devils	Cronin
1988	High Hopes	Rupert
1990	Who Bombed Birmingham?	David Mellor MP, Home Office	TV film
1991	Dakota Road	Man on the Train
1993	Stalag Luft	The Prof	TV film
1995	Heavy Weather	P. Frobisher Pilbeam	TV film
1997	My Night with Reg	Guy
1998	Neville's Island	Angus	TV film
2002	The Bourne Identity	Consulate Clerk
	George Eliot: A Scandalous Life	Gossip	TV film
	Gangs of New York	Passenger on Omnibus
2003	Pollyanna	Reverend Ford	TV film
	I Capture the Castle	Vicar
2006	Miss Potter	Fruing Warne
2007	The All Together	Robin Swain
	Consenting Adults	Dr. Carl Winter	TV film
2008	Valkyrie	Adolf Hitler
2010	The Village [de]	Dr. Wagner	TV film
	The King's Speech	Theatre Director
2012	The Nazi Gospels	Heinrich Himmler	TV film documentary
2015	Christmas Eve	Walt
	The Sound of Music Live	Herr Zeller	TV film
2016	The Limehouse Golem	Mr. Greatorex
	Chubby Funny	Mr. White
	One Crazy Thing	Michael Steel
2017	Mad to Be Normal	Dr. Meredith
	Darkest Hour	Admiral Ramsay
	Borg vs McEnroe	UK Commentator - George Barnes
2018	This Weekend Will Change Your Life	David
	Peterloo	Magistrate Rev Mallory
2020	Enola Holmes	Sir Whimbrel
2021	End of Term	DI Jim Burman

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Brass	Heseltine	1 episode
	Juliet Bravo	Mr. Saddlethwaite	Episode: "Mates"
1984	Crown Court	John Elliott	Episode: "Oddball: Part 1"
	Cockles	Graham	Recurring role
	The Brief	Lieutenant Dadd	Episode: "Long Glyn"
1986	Call Me Mister	Fred Hurley	Series regular
1987	Never Say Die	Verger	1 episode
1988	A Very Peculiar Practice	Professor Eric Middling	Episode: "Bad Vibrations"
1991	The New Statesman	Julian Whitaker	Episode: "Natural Selection"
	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Bernard Parker	Episode: "The Double Clue"
	4 Play	Ted in 'Well Wishers'	Episode: "Seduction"
	The Bill	George Smith	Episode: "Samaritan"
1992	The Good Guys	Hubert Manuden	Episode: "Her Finest Hour"
1993	Comedy Playhouse	Chris	Episode: "The Complete Guide to Relationships"
	The Buddha of Suburbia	Shadwell	TV Mini-series, 4 episodes
1994	The Chief	Philip Garrick	Episode #4.9
	Murder Most Horrid	Ray	Episode: "Smashing Bird"
	Wycliffe	Guy Bottrell	Episode: "The Dead Flautist"
	The Bill	Chris Baxter	Episode: "Games"
1995	Capital Lives	Fry	Episode: "Temp"
	Pride and Prejudice	Mr. Collins	Mini-series, 6 episodes
1996	Heartbeat	Adrian Shaw	Episode: "Forget Me Not"
	Masterpiece	P. Frobisher Pilbeam	Episode: "Heavy Weather"
1997	Chalk	Eric Slatt	Series regular
2000	Masterpiece	Doctor Forrest	Episode: "The Railway Children"
2001		Antonio	Episode: "The Merchant of Venice"
2002	Daniel Deronda	Lush	Mini-series
	Casualty	Dr. Martin Campbell	Episode: "Scapegoat"
2003	Air Crash Investigation	Narrator	Documentary series
2004	Mile High	Bobbi Donnelly	2 episodes
	Animated Tales of the World	Wang Bao's Father	Episode: "The Magic Gourd"
2005	Beethoven	Prince Lichnowsky	Mini-series - documentary
2005-2007	Rome	Marcus Tullius Cicero	Recurring role
2006	Midsomer Murders	John Starkey	Episode: "Dead Letters"
2007	Trial & Retribution	Rex Stafford	Episode: "Curriculum Vitae"
	New Tricks	Dale Hewson	Episode: "Nine Lives"
	The Bill	Howard Gould	Episode: "Diamonds Are Deadly"
	Robin Hood	Physician Blight	Episode: "Ducking and Diving"
	Doc Martin	Mr. Porter	Episode: "Happily Ever After"
2008	EastEnders	Bernard	1 episode
	The Way We Live Right Now	Right Honorable Jeremy Longstaff
2009	Hotel Babylon	Robert Carrick	2 episodes
	Collision	Sidney Norris	Mini-series
	Midsomer Murders	Anthony Prideaux	Episode: "The Black Book"
2009-2011	Psychoville	Robin	Recurring role
2011	The Borgias	Theo	2 episodes
2012	The Hollow Crown	Shallow	Episode: "Henry IV, Part 2"
	The Paradise	Charles Chisholm	1 episode
2013	Blandings	Herr Schnellhund	Episode: "Company for Gertrude"
	What Remains	Joe Sellers	Mini-series
2014	Casualty	Anthony Kingston	Episode: "In the Name of Love"
	Doctor Who	Captain Quell	Episode: "Mummy on the Orient Express"
2015	Father Brown	Walter Hubble	Episode: "The Curse of Amenhotep"
	Death in Paradise	Alan Butler	Episode: "Damned If You Do..."
	Doctors	Professor Jeremy Burroughs	Episode: "In the Presence of Beauty"
2016	Midsomer Murders	Daniel Fargo	Episode: "A Dying Art"
	Camping	Noel	Mini-series, 4 episodes
	Plebs	Strabo	Episode: "The Weatherist"
	Victoria	Duke of Sussex	2 episodes
	Medici	Pope Eugenius IV	3 episodes
2017	Tina and Bobby	Alf Ramsey	Mini-series
	Snatch	Staff	4 episodes
	Quacks	Dr. Wyatt	Episode: "The Bishops Appendix"
	Gunpowder	Lord Northumberland	Mini-series
2018	Silent Witness	Brian Hawke	Episode: "Moment of Surrender"
	Call the Midwife	Stanley Hodgkiss	1 episode
	A Very English Scandal	Lord Arran	Mini-series
	Trust	Bela von Block	Recurring role
	Doctors	Derek Bartlett	Episode: "Face-Off"
2019	Queens of Mystery	Maximilian Sinclair	Episode: "Murder in the Dark: First Chapter"
	Urban Myths	Drunk	Episode: "Madonna and Basquiat"
2020	Grantchester	John Graham	Episode #5.2
	Inside No. 9	Robin	Episode: "Death Be Not Proud"
	Flesh and Blood	D.I. Doug Lineham	TV Mini-series, 4 episodes
2024	The Regime	Schiff	TV Mini-series, 2 episodes

References

1. "Interview - David Bamber". londontheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
2. "Q&A Interview with David Bamber, who plays Joe in BBC One drama What Remains". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
3. "RADA Student and Graduate Profiles - David Bamber". rada.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
4. "David Bamber". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
5. "Drama People Index - David Bamber". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
6. "Ethan Bamber". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
7. "Ethan Bamber sets England Under 19's up for Second World Cup Victory". www.middlesexccc.com.

Further reading

• "David Bamber Page". Pride and Prejudice site. 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2009.

External links

• David Bamber at IMDb