David Holliday
Encyclopedia
David Holliday was an American broadway
actor and voice actor.
Holliday's longest-running role on Broadway was that of Richard Kiley's alternate as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha
, being 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, also touring England, Scotland & Scandinavia, reprising this role again in 1963 and 1967 at the St Louis Municipal Opera House. Holliday has 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, America, and also 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, internationally celebrated British actor/director Nöel 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. The Original London Cast performance is available on cd and LP. A list of all his album recordings can be found at: http://castalbums.org.
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. Presented by Tommy Duggan with music by Lorne Huycke and lyrics by Bill Howe.
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. Produced by Jay Landesman
; Writing credits: Margaret Hill, Charlotte Moor, Jack Murdock; Musical Lyrics: Fran Landesman
.
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), 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 America, Holliday made his Melody Top - Milwaukee Summer Stock Theatre debut in "Fanny" and "Where's Charley". His many lead roles included: Tommy Albright in Brigadoon
, 1973; Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music
, 1973; 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 Ohio 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?
.
Holliday also had several film and television credits, such as providing the voice of 3rd brother and pilot of Thunderbird 2 Virgil Tracy in series 1 (16 episodes) of Thunderbirds
, and 10 episodes of series 2; Virgil's voice was then played by Jeremy Wilkin for the remaining 6 episodes of series 2 and the two films in 1966 and 1968. Holliday's other television credits include 5 episodes - aired in May 1973 - of the long-running British sit-com Coronation Street, where he played the character Tom Schofield, the grand-nephew of Ena Sharples. Episodes #1286 (14 May), #1287 (16 May), #1288 (21 May), #1289 (23 May), and #1291 (30 May). Episode # 1289 appears on the Coronation Street 1973 Classic 8 Episodes DVD.
Holliday was also a five time nominee & four time winner of the prestigious Carbonell Award for Best Actor in Musicals:
1978-79 Season: joint winner Man of La Mancha
,Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre (the other winner was Gregg Baker for Timbuktu
, Theatre of Performing Arts).
1979-80 Season: nominated for his performance in Camelot
, Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre.
1985-86 Season: winner for Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill, Coconut Grove Playhouse.
1992-93 Season: winner for Man of La Mancha
and South Pacific
, Jupiter Theatre.
1993-94 Season: winner for The Most Happy Fella
, Jupiter Theatre.
On the televised 1970 Tony Awards there was a fifteen minute performance of the musical Coco
, with Katharine Hepburn
as Coco Chanel
and featuring George Rose
, Gale Dixon
and David Holliday. This performance can also be seen on the Bonus Extras section of the DVD "Broadway's Lost Treasures II".
Holliday died from cancer
on 26 March 1999, 26 years to the day as Sir Nöel Coward
(26 March 1973), and the same month as Richard Kiley (5 March 1999).
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
actor and voice actor.
Holliday's longest-running role on Broadway was that of Richard Kiley's alternate as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
, being 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
Coco (musical)
Coco is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by André Previn. It starred Katharine Hepburn in her only stage musical.-Background:...
, (1969 – 1970) earned him a Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
. He also appeared in the musicals Nevertheless They Laugh (Off Broadway 1971), Music Is
Music Is
Music Is is a musical with a book by George Abbott, music by Richard Adler, and lyrics by Will Holt. It is the second musical adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, following Your Own Thing in 1968....
(1976) and Perfectly Frank
Perfectly Frank
Perfectly Frank is an album by Tony Bennett, released in 1992, recorded as a tribute to Frank Sinatra.Part of Bennett's late-in-life comeback to commercial success, it achieved gold record status in the United States and in 1993 won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.In...
(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, also touring England, Scotland & Scandinavia, reprising this role again in 1963 and 1967 at the St Louis Municipal Opera House. Holliday has two 1966 London Cast recordings to his credit; one with Jill Martin
Jill Martin
Jill Martin is a sportscaster and television personality. She is a reporter for the New York Knicks contributing to the pregame, halftime and postgame shows. Martin is also a contributor on NBC's " Today Show", reporting on the latest fashion trends and entertainment stories...
, and the other with Diane Todd, in the role of Maria. He would spend the next ten years commuting between Britain, Europe, America, and also 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, internationally celebrated British actor/director Nöel Coward led to the role of John Van Mier in the London production of Sail Away
Sail Away (musical)
Sail Away is a musical with a book, music and lyrics by Noël Coward. The show was the last musical for which Coward wrote both the book and music, although he wrote the music for one last "book" musical in 1963. The story centers around brash, bold American divorcee Mimi Paragon, working as a...
at the Savoy Theatre, London, with Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
reprising her Broadway role as Mimi Paragon; the London production ran for 265 performances. The Original London Cast performance is available on cd and LP. A list of all his album recordings can be found at: http://castalbums.org.
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
Jim Dale
Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...
as William Dowton, Cheryl Kennedy
Cheryl Kennedy
Cheryl Kennedy is an English actress.She was born in Enfield, Middlesex, educated at a convent, and first appeared at the age of 15 at Stratford East Theatre Workshop in What a Crazy World. She enjoyed success as a stage actress, notably in West End musicals such as the 1967 revival of The Boy...
as Agnes Dowton, John Gower
John Gower
John Gower was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered primarily for three major works, the Mirroir de l'Omme, Vox Clamantis, and Confessio Amantis, three long poems written in French, Latin, and English respectively, which...
as the villainous Squire Cribbs, and Bernard Clifton as the Landlord and Arden Rencelaw. Presented by Tommy Duggan with music by Lorne Huycke and lyrics by Bill Howe.
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
Mary Millar
Mary Millar was a British actress best remembered for her role as Rose in BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. She was born Mary Wetton in Doncaster, Yorkshire...
as Lucy, Robert Hornery as Jonathan Harker, David Morton as Sir Arthur Holmwood, and Pitt Wilkinson as Dr Van Helsing. Produced by Jay Landesman
Jay Landesman
Irving Ned Landesman was an American publisher, nightclub proprietor and writer long resident in London.-With the Beats:...
; Writing credits: Margaret Hill, Charlotte Moor, Jack Murdock; Musical Lyrics: Fran Landesman
Fran Landesman
Fran Landesman was an American lyricist and poet.-Early life:Born Frances Deitsch in New York City, her father was a dress manufacturer, her mother was a journalist...
.
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), 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 America, Holliday made his Melody Top - Milwaukee Summer Stock Theatre debut in "Fanny" and "Where's Charley". His many lead roles included: Tommy Albright in Brigadoon
Brigadoon
Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
, 1973; Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
, 1973; Woody Mahoney in Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane. The 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010...
; Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
with Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley is an American actress. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.-Biography:...
as Annie, 1982; and Emile De Becque in South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, 1985. He also appeared many times with the Kenley Ohio Players; some of his roles were: as Tony in West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
with Anna Maria Alberghetti
Anna Maria Alberghetti
Anna Maria Alberghetti is an Italian-born operatic singer and actress.Born in Pesaro, Marche, she starred on Broadway and won a Tony Award in 1962 as Best Actress for Carnival! .Alberghetti was a child prodigy. Her father was an opera singer and concert master of the Rome Opera Company...
as Maria; as Robert Baker in Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...
with Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
as Ruth; as Edward Rutledge in 1776 (musical)
1776 (musical)
1776 is a musical with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and a book by Peter Stone. The story is based on the events surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence...
with Joel Grey
Joel Grey
Joel Grey is an American stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in both the stage and film adaptation of the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. He has won the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award...
as John Adams; as Bill Sikes in Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
with Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
as Fagin; as Beverly Carlton in The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
with Jack Cassidy
Jack Cassidy
John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy was an American actor of stage, film and screen.His frequent professional persona was that of an urbane, super-confident egotist with a dramatic flair, much in the manner of Broadway actor Frank Fay...
as Sheridan Whiteside; as Donald Marshall in Irene
Irene (musical)
Irene is a musical with a book by James Montgomery, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and music by Harry Tierney.Based on Montgomery's play Irene O'Dare, it is set in New York City's Upper West Side and focuses on immigrant shop assistant Irene O'Dare, who is introduced to Long Island's high society when...
with Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
in the lead role; and as Karl in Music in The Air
Music in the Air
Music in the Air is a musical written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern . It introduced songs such as "The Song Is You", "In Egern on the Tegern See" and "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star"...
with Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi was for many years a leading bass with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as playing lead roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide.-Career:Tozzi was born George John Tozzi in Chicago, Illinois...
as Bruno.
Some of his non-singing roles include: Henry II in The Lion in Winter
The Lion in Winter
-Synopsis:Set during Christmas 1183 at Henry II of England's château in Chinon, Anjou, Angevin Empire, the play opens with the arrival of Henry's wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom he has had imprisoned since 1173...
, a 1981 production at Stage Company of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach; Martin Dysart in Equus
Equus (play)
Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....
, 1982 production at Florida Atlantic University; in England he also toured as Starbuck in The Rainmaker
The Rainmaker (play)
The Rainmaker is a play written by N. Richard Nash in the early 1950s. The play opened on October 28, 1954 at the Cort Theatre in New York and ran for 125 performances. It was directed by Joseph Anthony and produced by Ethel Linder Reiner....
, and Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider...
.
Holliday also had several film and television credits, such as providing the voice of 3rd brother and pilot of Thunderbird 2 Virgil Tracy in series 1 (16 episodes) of Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, and 10 episodes of series 2; Virgil's voice was then played by Jeremy Wilkin for the remaining 6 episodes of series 2 and the two films in 1966 and 1968. Holliday's other television credits include 5 episodes - aired in May 1973 - of the long-running British sit-com Coronation Street, where he played the character Tom Schofield, the grand-nephew of Ena Sharples. Episodes #1286 (14 May), #1287 (16 May), #1288 (21 May), #1289 (23 May), and #1291 (30 May). Episode # 1289 appears on the Coronation Street 1973 Classic 8 Episodes DVD.
Holliday was also a five time nominee & four time winner of the prestigious Carbonell Award for Best Actor in Musicals:
1978-79 Season: joint winner Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
,Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre (the other winner was Gregg Baker for Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
, Theatre of Performing Arts).
1979-80 Season: nominated for his performance in Camelot
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
, Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre.
1985-86 Season: winner for Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill, Coconut Grove Playhouse.
1992-93 Season: winner for Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
and South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, Jupiter Theatre.
1993-94 Season: winner for The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard...
, Jupiter Theatre.
On the televised 1970 Tony Awards there was a fifteen minute performance of the musical Coco
Coco (musical)
Coco is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by André Previn. It starred Katharine Hepburn in her only stage musical.-Background:...
, with Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
as Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...
and featuring George Rose
George Rose
The Right Honourable George Rose was a British politician.Born at Woodside near Brechin, Scotland, Rose was the son of the Reverend David Rose of Lethnot, by Margaret, daughter of Donald Rose of Wester Clune...
, Gale Dixon
Gale Dixon
Gale Dixon is an American actress and singer who had a brief but active career in theatre, television, and film from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s. She made her Broadway debut in 1966 as Francine in Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx's The Impossible Years...
and David Holliday. This performance can also be seen on the Bonus Extras section of the DVD "Broadway's Lost Treasures II".
Holliday died from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on 26 March 1999, 26 years to the day as Sir Nöel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
(26 March 1973), and the same month as Richard Kiley (5 March 1999).