David Ryall

David Ryall
Born	David Ryall 5 January 1935 (1935-01-05) (age 76) England
Years active	1969 - Present

David Ryall (born 5 January 1935) is an English actor who has appeared on British television since the 1970s. He has had leading roles in Lytton's Diary and Goodnight Sweetheart, as well as memorable roles in Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective and Andrew Davies's adaptation of To Play the King and The Final Cut, the final two parts in the House of Cards trilogy.

Career

He received a scholarship to RADA in 1962, during which time he won the Caryl Brahams Award for a Musical. On leaving RADA, he went into repertory work in Salisbury, Bristol, Leicester and Birmingham (including King Lear and The Master Builder) and then into Laurence Olivier's company with the National Theatre at The Old Vic from 1965-73. During this time he was involved with many new and influential plays, including Tom Stoppard's Jumpers and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Tyger. Other, particularly notable, work at the National Theatre includes Guys and Dolls, The Beggar's Opera, Coriolanus and Animal Farm (for which he won the Clarence Derwent Award in 1985), The School for Wives, Wild Oats, Democracy and The UN Inspector. In 1983 he worked on 'A Matter of the Officers' and Jean Seberg with Julian Barry who, despite Ryall missing the press night of the latter due to misjudging a step from a lift onto the stage and breaking his ankle during a blackout, remains a life-long friend. In 1984 Ryall performed a one man show of stories and poems by Edward Bond at the NT, entitled A Leap in the Light. Ryall portrayed discredited scientist Frank Skuse in the March 1990 docudrama Who Bombed Birmingham?^[1]

In 1994 he played Feste in Sir Peter Hall's production of Twelfth Night - a performance which was praised highly by Sir Alec Guinness in his autobiography. In 1996-97, working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played God in The Mysteries, and Polonius in Hamlet, for which he was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award during its tour of the United States.

He worked with Sir Peter Hall again in the 1999 production of Lenny in the West End, and after that in the 2000 epic Tantalus, in Colorado and the UK. David continues to be a regular face in the theatre, with more recent appearances including in Patrick Marber's Don Juan in Soho at the Donmar Warehouse in 2007.

His television and film career has been equally expansive, and includes The Knowledge, The Singing Detective, Shelley, Inspector Morse, State of Play, The Elephant Man, Empire of the Sun, Truly, Madly, Deeply and Two Men Went to War. He appeared as Max, an antique collector, in episode 4 of BBC drama Bonekickers.

In 2005, Ryall played the role of Winston Churchill in the french TV-drama Le Grand Charles on the life of Charles de Gaulle.

Ryall has appeared in the BBC One sitcom Outnumbered since 2007, in which he plays Frank (known as "Granddad"), a character who suffers from dementia. He also appeared as Elphias Doge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Personal life

Ryall has one son and two daughters: Jonathan Ryall (b. 1966), who was the manager of the Australian band GLIDE, Imogen Ryall (b. 1967), who is a singer and works consistently with pianist Rod Hart, and Charlotte Ryall (b. 1986).

References

1. ^ ITN Source

External links

• David Ryall at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Ryall, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 January 1935
Place of birth	England
Date of death
Place of death