Thayer David

This article is about the U.S. actor. For the U.S. artist, see David Thayer.

"David Thayer Hersey" redirects here. Not to be confused with David Hersey.

Thayer David (born David Thayer Hersey; March 4, 1927 – July 17, 1978) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He was best known for his work on the ABC serial Dark Shadows (1966–1971), as Dragon, the Albino ex-Nazi Director of C-2 in The Eiger Sanction (1975) and as the fight promoter Miles Jergens in Rocky (1976). He also appeared as Count Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), as the Reverend Silas Pendrake in Little Big Man (1970), as Charlie Robbins in Save the Tiger (1973) and as Deacon in Fun with Dick and Jane (1977). His raspy, distinctive voice lent itself to voice-over work in commercials and instructional films.

Thayer David
David in Columbo: Now You See Him (1976)
Born	David Thayer Hersey (1927-03-04)March 4, 1927 Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	July 17, 1978(1978-07-17) (aged 51) New York City, New York, U.S.
Years active	1950–1978
Spouse	Valerie French ​ ​ (m. 1970; div. 1975)​

Early life

Thayer David was born March 4, 1927, in Medford, Massachusetts. His father, Thayer Frye Hersey, was an executive in the paper pulp industry. David attended Harvard University in the 1940s but did not graduate, concentrating instead upon a career on the stage. With financial support from his father, he co-founded the Brattle Theater Company (1948–1952) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and established himself in the professional theatre.^[1][2]

Stage career

He went on to act in The Relapse 1950 (Sir Tunbelly Clumsey); The Taming of the Shrew 1951 (Grumio); The Way of the World 1954 (Petulant); The Carefree Tree 1955 (The Sixth Son); King Lear 1956 (Duke of Cornwall); Mister Johnson 1956 (Gollup); Saint Joan 1956 (The Inquisitor); Protective Custody 1956 (Dr. Steidl); Oscar Wilde 1957 (Oscar Wilde); The Golden Six 1958 (Tiberius); A Man for All Seasons 1961 (Cardinal Wolsey); La Belle 1962; Andorra 1963 (pub keeper); The Seagull 1964 (Sorin); The Crucible 1964 (Danforth); Baker Street 1965 (Moriarty); The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1965 (Miguel Estete); Ring Round the Moon 1966 (Messerchann); Those That Play the Clowns 1966 (Henning); Breakfast at Tiffany's 1966 (Rusty Trawler); The Sorrows of Frederick 1967; The Bench 1968 (Phillipi); Uncle Vanya 1971 (Serebryakov); The Jockey Club Stakes 1973 (Sir Dymock Blackburn); and The Dogs of Pavlov 1974.

Film and television

David played the dark and menacing role of Count Saknussem in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959). From 1966 to 1971, David portrayed various characters on ABC's daytime phenomenon Dark Shadows. His many roles on Dark Shadows^[3] included Matthew Morgan, Ben Stokes, Professor T. Elliot Stokes, Sandor Rakosi, Count Andreas Petofi, Timothy Stokes (Parallel Time), Mordecai Grimes, and Ben Stokes (Parallel Time). David played different roles in each of the spinoff movies - House of Dark Shadows (1970, playing Professor T. Elliot Stokes); and Night of Dark Shadows (1971, playing Reverend Strack).

On the big screen, he played Reverend Silas Pendrake in Little Big Man (1970).^[4] He also played the professional arsonist Charlie Robbins in Save the Tiger (1973) with Jack Lemmon, the afflicted spymaster Dragon in The Eiger Sanction (1975) with Clint Eastwood, and fight promoter Miles Jergens in Rocky (1976) (reunited with Save the Tiger director John G. Avildsen).^[5]

He played numerous characters on different TV series, including The Wild Wild West, The Rockford Files, Columbo, Ellery Queen, Kojak, Petrocelli, Charlie's Angels, and Hawaii Five-O.

David appeared in TV movies such as Nikita Khrushchev in Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976) and The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977), as well as miniseries such as Roots, The Rhinemann Exchange, and Washington: Behind Closed Doors.^{[citation needed]}

In 1977, David played the title role in Nero Wolfe, Paramount Television's made-for-TV movie based on the Rex Stout novel The Doorbell Rang. David portrayed the corpulent detective Nero Wolfe, who took on clients grudgingly and solved mysteries dazzlingly. Intended to be the pilot for a series, the film was shelved by ABC. It eventually aired December 18, 1979, 17 months after David's death.^[6] He also played an important role as the lead antagonist, Mr. Edward Byron, in the made-for-TV film Spider-Man (1977), which served as the pilot for the 1978 TV series The Amazing Spider-Man.

Personal life

A resident of Manhattan, David collected walking sticks, 18th century European landscape paintings, and Victorian furniture.^[7] "He was the most widely educated and best-read actor I've ever encountered," said Frank D. Gilroy, who wrote and directed the 1977 TV movie Nero Wolfe.^[8]

He was married to and divorced from film and television actress Valerie French.^[9]

David died July 17, 1978, of a heart attack in New York City at the age of 51.^[10] He and French had been planning to remarry.^[11] He was cremated.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	Baby Face Nelson	Connelly
1958	A Time to Love and a Time to Die	Oscar Binding
1958	Wolf Larsen	Mugridge
1959	Journey to the Center of the Earth	Count Saknussemm
1960	The Story of Ruth	Hedak
1966	Dark Shadows	Matthew Morgan
1970	House of Dark Shadows	Professor T. Eliot Stokes
1970	Little Big Man	Rev. Silas Pendrake
1971	Night of Dark Shadows	Rev. Strack
1972	Savages	Otto Nurder, a Capitalist
1972	The Stoolie	Lattimore
1973	Save the Tiger	Charlie Robbins
1973	Happy Mother's Day, Love George	Minister Pollard
1973	The Werewolf of Washington	Inspector
1973	Fore Play	General
1975	The Eiger Sanction	Dragon
1975	Hearts of the West	Bank Manager
1975	The Secret Night Caller	Mr. Henry
1976	Peeper	Frank Prendergast
1976	Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident	Nikita Khrushchev
1976	The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox	Josiah Widdicombe (Mormon patriarch)
1976	Rocky	Miles Jergens
1977	Fun with Dick and Jane	Deacon
1977	Sudden Death	Hauser
1977	Spider-Man	Edward Byron
1978	House Calls	Phil Pogostin	Final role
1979	Nero Wolfe	Nero Wolfe

Further reading

• Hamrick, Craig & Jamison, R. J. Barnabas & Company: The Cast of the TV Classic Dark Shadows Revised (2012) iUniverse, 2012. pp 93–107. ISBN 978-1-4759-1034-6

References

1. Pace, Eric, "Thayer David Dead; A Character Actor"; The New York Times, July 20, 1978
2. Brattle Theatre, The First Hundred Years Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine' retrieved October 4, 2011
3. Lavery, David (2009). The Essential Cult TV Reader. Louisville: University Press of Kentucky. p. 87. ISBN 9780813125688.
4. Rainey, Buck (1998). Western Gunslingers in Fact and on Film: Hollywood's Famous Lawmen and Outlaws. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 214. ISBN 9780786403967.
5. Kibbey, Richard D. (2011). Pat Boone: The Hollywood Years. Mustang, Oklahoma: Tate Publishing & Enterprises. p. 156. ISBN 9781613461341.
6. Terrace, Vincent, Television 1970–1980. San Diego, California: A.S. Barnes & Company, 1981, ISBN 0-498-02539-X page 266
7. Pace, Eric, "Thayer David Dead: A Character Actor"; The New York Times, July 20, 1978
8. Gilroy, Frank D., I Wake Up Screening. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8093-1856-3 page 147
9. Collins, Glenn, "Valerie French, 59, Actress Who Played English Characters"; The New York Times, November 6, 1990
10. Pace, Eric, "Thayer David Dead; A Character Actor"; The New York Times, July 20, 1978
11. Collins, Glenn, "Valerie French, 59, Actress Who Played English Characters"; The New York Times, November 6, 1990

External links

• Thayer David at IMDb
• Thayer David at the Internet Broadway Database
• Thayer David at the Internet Off-Broadway Database