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David Swift

Highest Rated: 91% The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Lowest Rated: 50% Travels With My Aunt (1972)

Birthday: Apr 3, 1931

Birthplace: Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK

Truly a working actor, perpetual British screen presence David Swift carved out a niche in a number of roles on U.K. television in the second half of the 20th century, notably as Henry Davenport on "Drop the Dead Donkey" and Alan Taylor on "Couples." After studying law at Cambridge, Swift went to work with his father in his elastic supply business and didn't appear on screen until the age of 30, working in television in small walk-on roles and bit parts. His first break came with the role of Napoleon in an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's epic drama "War & Peace." A small role in Fred Zinnemann's assassination drama, "The Day of the Jackal," followed, as did the key role of Alan Taylor on the British television comedy "Couples." Throughout the 1980s Swift landed dozens of dramatic and comedic TV parts, but it was in 1990 that he won the role of Davenport on comic Andy Hamilton's "Drop the Dead Donkey," which took a biting, satirical look at British politics via a TV newsroom. That role, along with a part on the sitcom "Jack & Sarah," about an American nanny in the U.K., took him through the majority of the decade, and afterwards he eased into the part of secret agent Charlie Spinner on the BBC children's television series "Oscar Charlie" for one season in 2001. This would become one of his final roles, as he retired from his screen career in 2004.

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Highest rated movies

91% 88% The Day of the Jackal
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74% 79% Jack & Sarah
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50% 47% Travels With My Aunt
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41% No Sex Please, We're British
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One Way Out
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Who Killed Lamb?
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The Black Panther
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King Richard the Second
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Arthur's Hallowed Ground
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Star Quality
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
74% 79% Jack & Sarah Michael (Character) $114.8K 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet One Way Out Beddow (Character) - 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Arthur's Hallowed Ground Lionel (Character) - 1986
No Score Yet No Score Yet Star Quality J.C. Roebuck (Character) - 1985
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Potting Shed Unknown (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet No Score Yet King Richard the Second Duke of Northumberland (Character) - 1978
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Black Panther Det. Chief Superintendent (Character) - 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet Who Killed Lamb? Insp. Havelock (Character) - 1974
No Score Yet 41% No Sex Please, We're British Inspector Paul (Character) - 1973
91% 88% The Day of the Jackal Montclair (Character) - 1973
50% 47% Travels With My Aunt Detective (Character) - 1972

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Born and Bred Euphrates (Character) 2004
No Score Yet No Score Yet Holby City Bill Hoskins (Character) 2002
No Score Yet No Score Yet Drop the Dead Donkey Henry Davenport (Character) 1990-1991 1993-1994 1996 1998
No Score Yet 88% The Avengers Unknown (Guest Star) 1966
No Score Yet No Score Yet Vacation Playhouse Unknown (Character) 1965