American actor (1937?1999)
David Holliday
(August 4, 1937 – March 26, 1999) was an American
Broadway
actor and television voice actor. He is best known as the voice of
Virgil Tracy
, pilot of
Thunderbird 2
, in the first series (26 episodes) of
Thunderbirds
(1965–66).
Career
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Stage
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Holliday's longest-running role on Broadway was that of
Richard Kiley
's alternate as
Don Quixote
in
Man of La Mancha
, playing Don Quixote in matinees and Dr Carrasco in the evening performances, from 1965 to 1971 (and later took on the role of the innkeeper in the 1992 revival). His next performance, as Georges in
Coco
, (1969 – 1970) earned him a
Theatre World Award
. He also appeared in the musicals
Nevertheless They Laugh
(Off Broadway 1971),
Music Is
(1976) and
Perfectly Frank
(1980).
In 1956 Holliday went to New York and auditioned for a part in
West Side Story
; he was given the minor role of Glad Hand, and to understudy Tony, in the London production. He then went on to play the lead role of Tony in the
West End
, during this time he met the young
David Jason
who was working as an electrician at the time doing work on his London flat and give him tickets to the show. The show also touring England, Scotland and Scandinavia, reprising this role again in 1963 and 1967 at the
St. Louis Municipal Opera House
.
[1]
Holliday had two 1966 London Cast recordings to his credit; one with
Jill Martin
, and the other with
Diane Todd
, in the role of Maria. He would spend the next ten years commuting between Britain, Europe, the United States, and South Africa where he toured for six months in the role of Macheath in
The Beggar's Opera
.
In 1962 a phone call from, and a subsequent meeting with, British actor-director
Noel Coward
led to the role of John Van Mier in the London production of
Sail Away
at the
Savoy Theatre
, London, with
Elaine Stritch
reprising her Broadway role as Mimi Paragon; the London production ran for 265 performances.
1964 saw Holliday in the lead role of Edward Middleton in
The Wayward Way
, the musical version of
The Drunkard
, at the
New Lyric Theatre
, Hammersmith; the cast included Roberta D'Esti as Mary,
Jim Dale
as William Dowton,
Cheryl Kennedy
as Agnes Dowton,
John Gower
as the villainous Squire Cribbs, and Bernard Clifton as the landlord and Arden Rencelaw.
September 1965 saw him at the
Olympia Theatre, Dublin
, in the role of Dr Seward, in the musical
Dearest Dracula
, with John Gower as Dracula,
Mary Millar
as Lucy, Robert Hornery as Jonathan Harker, David Morton as Sir Arthur Holmwood, and Pitt Wilkinson as Dr Van Helsing.
In 1967, a meeting in New York with Danish actor-director
Preben Kaas
led to the role of Frank Butler in the Danish version of the musical
Annie Get Your Gun
, at the Falconer Theatre in Copenhagen (1967–68),
[2]
with Daimi Gentle as Annie; this meant an intensive study in phonetics as the role required Holliday singing and speaking in Danish, the success of which can be heard on the Danish Cast recording on Metronome Records HLP 10304 (1968). The production ran for six months.
Later in 1968, and back once more in the United States, Holliday made his Melody Top - Milwaukee Summer Stock Theatre debut
[3]
in "Fanny" and "Where's Charley". His many lead roles included: Tommy Albright in
Brigadoon
, 1973; Carl-Magnus in
A Little Night Music
, 1976; Woody Mahoney in
Finian's Rainbow
; Frank Butler in
Annie Get Your Gun
with
Jo Anne Worley
as Annie, 1982; and Emile De Becque in
South Pacific
, 1985. He also appeared many times with the
Kenley Players
; some of his roles were: as Tony in
West Side Story
with
Anna Maria Alberghetti
as Maria; as Robert Baker in
Wonderful Town
with
Cloris Leachman
as Ruth; as Edward Rutledge in
1776
(musical)
with
Joel Grey
as John Adams; as Bill Sikes in
Oliver!
with
Vincent Price
as Fagin; as Beverly Carlton in
The Man Who Came to Dinner
with
Jack Cassidy
as Sheridan Whiteside; as Donald Marshall in
Irene
with
Jane Powell
in the lead role; and as Karl in
Music in the Air
with
Giorgio Tozzi
as Bruno.
Some of his non-singing roles include: Henry II in
The Lion in Winter
, a 1981 production at Stage Company of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach; Martin Dysart in
Equus
, 1982 production at Florida Atlantic University; in England he also toured as Starbuck in
The Rainmaker
, and Nick in
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
.
Television
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Holliday also had several film and television credits, including the voice of
Virgil Tracy
, pilot of
Thunderbird 2
, in the first series (26 episodes) of
Thunderbirds
(1965–66). Holliday's other television credits include five episodes - aired in May 1973 - of the long-running British soap-opera
Coronation Street
, in which he played the character of
Tom Schofield
, great-nephew of
Ena Sharples
. Episodes #1286 (May 14), #1287 (May 16), #1288 (May 21), #1289 (May 23), and #1291 (May 30). Episode # 1289 appears on the Coronation Street 1973 Classic 8 Episodes DVD.
Awards
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Holliday was a five-time nominee and four-time winner of the
Carbonell Award
for Best Actor in Musicals:
[4]
Death
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Holliday died from
cancer
on March 26, 1999, at the age of 61.
References
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External links
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