David Stephen Rappaport (23 November 1951 – 2 May 1990) was an English actor with achondroplasia (a genetic disorder where the primary feature is dwarfism). He appeared in the films Time Bandits and The Bride, and television series L.A. Law, The Wizard and Captain Planet and the Planeteers. He was 3' 11" (1.19 m) in height.[1]
David Rappaport | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | David Stephen Rappaport 23 November 1951 London, England |
| Died | 2 May 1990 (aged 38) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Waltham Abbey Jewish Cemetery, Waltham Abbey, Epping Forest District, Essex, England |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, musician, writer, director, teacher |
| Years active | 1971–1990 |
| Known for | Time Bandits (1981) Robin of Sherwood (1986) |
| Website | davidrappaport |
Early life
editRappaport was born to Jewish taxi driver Mark and his wife Diana, née Schneiderman in London. He was born with achondroplasia,[citation needed] a common form of dwarfism. As a child, he developed talents in playing the accordion and drums, the latter of which he played professionally during his life.[2] Rappaport studied psychology at the University of Bristol from 1970, graduating with a degree while developing his skills as a semi-professional drummer, and acting skills at the college dramatical society.
After six months in the United States, he returned to the United Kingdom to marry his college girlfriend, Jane. They had a son Joe, and Rappaport tried to settle down to family life as a teacher. But as his marriage broke down and he decided to follow a career as an actor, he became a resident of the squatter "nation" of Frestonia, acting as Foreign Minister under the name David Rappaport-Bramley – all inhabitants adopted the surname 'Bramley', so that if the Greater London Council were to succeed in an eviction, they would have to rehouse them as one family.
Career
editDavid Rappaport first came to public notice in children's television, appearing alongside Sylvester McCoy as an O-Man in the 1979 BBC children's series Jigsaw. Rappaport and McCoy had previously appeared together in Illuminatus! at the Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool (founded by Ken Campbell and Chris Langham in 1976). The two men also appeared in the anarchic Ken Campbell Road Show. Rappaport was with the Road Show in 1979 when it featured in the Secret Policeman's Ball. While McCoy appeared as an escapologist, Campbell introduced Rappaport to the audience as: "Not the smallest man in the world, but fucking close...". He appeared in some season one sketches of Not the Nine O'Clock News.
In the early 1980s Rappaport played the character of "Shades" on the anarchic Saturday morning kids TV shows Tiswas and The Saturday Show. One of Rappaport's most popular roles was as Randall, the leader of the gang of dwarves in the Terry Gilliam film Time Bandits in 1981. During the mid-80s, Rappaport played in the HTV production of Robin of Sherwood (released as Robin Hood in the US) with Jason Connery as Robin. The show was filmed in Bristol, where Rappaport had a home. During this time, he also made himself at home aboard Ki Longfellow-Stanshall and Vivian Stanshall's ship moored in the Bristol docks, the Old Profanity Showboat, where he often appeared on stage. Rappaport appeared in 1985's The Bride as a circus dwarf who befriends Frankenstein's monster (played by 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Clancy Brown). In 1986, Rappaport appeared on the 1985–1987 NBC TV Series Amazing Stories in an episode called "Gather Ye Acorns" (starring Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame). From 1986 to 1987, Rappaport played the lead role of Simon McKay in the CBS television series The Wizard. Rappaport also made guest appearances on such shows as The Goodies, The Young Ones, and L.A. Law.
In L.A. Law, Rappaport played crack trial lawyer Hamilton Schuyler in two episodes. Both episodes were significant roles, opposing Jimmy Smits. The second of these, "The Mouse that Roared", was filmed only six months prior to his death. Though the Schuyler character was frequently described as "from Texas," Rappaport made no attempt to hide his British accent, which was never explained within the show.
Rappaport was the voice of Dr. Blight's computer, MAL, on Captain Planet and the Planeteers; he was replaced by Tim Curry after his first four appearances due to his death four months before the series aired. He also played Mr. Belvedere's cousin on an episode of Mr. Belvedere entitled "Duel" (Season 5 Episode 6).
Final years, death and legacy
editRappaport struggled with depression later in his life. Just before his death, he had been cast and begun filming for the role of Kivas Fajo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Most Toys". During filming, Rappaport attempted suicide, and the scenes he had completed were later discarded when actor Saul Rubinek was hurriedly brought in by producers to replace him and complete the episode. The scenes of Rappaport as Kivas Fajo were included on the Season 3 Blu-ray Disc release of Star Trek: The Next Generation.[3]
Rappaport died by suicide on 2 May 1990. He shot himself in the chest in Laurel Canyon Park in the San Fernando Valley in California.[4][5]
Two of the creators of the US television series The Wizard, Michael Berk and Douglas Schwartz, went on to produce the lifeguard drama Baywatch. In this show's fifth season is an episode entitled "Short Sighted" which originally aired on 31 October 1994. Part of this episode concerns junior lifeguard Carter McKay (Nicholas Banko), whose father Simon McKay (Ed Gale) is a namesake tribute to Rappaport's character on The Wizard.[6][7]
Theatre
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1971–1972 | Sleep Fast, They've Landed (Everybody Wants a Frozen Donkey for Christmas) | Yellow |
| Stonehenge Follies | ||
| 1975-77 | Illuminatus! | Markoff Chaney |
| Portland Bill Street Theatre | ||
| The Immortalist | Reporter/Interviewer | |
| Interplay | ||
| 1977 | Volpone | Nano |
| The Warp | ||
| 1979 | Little Brother Is Watching You (Small Is Beautiful) | Himself |
| 1979 | The Secret Policeman's Ball | Member of Ken Campbell Road Show |
| 1980 | Dr. Faustus | Beelzebub, Dick, Pope Adrian, and other characters |
| 1980 | Cinderella | |
| 1983 | Exit the King | The Doctor |
| 1985 | Lulu | Schigolch |
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Turkish Delight (aka The Sensualist) | Dwarf | Feature film |
| 1978 | Mysteries | Grogard | Feature film |
| 1979 | Black Jack | Tom Thumb's Army | Feature film |
| 1979 | Cuba | Jesus | Feature film |
| 1979 | The Secret Policeman's Ball | Various characters | TV film |
| 1981 | Time Bandits | Randall | Feature film |
| 1981 | John Diamond | Mr Seed | Feature film |
| 1981 | Tales from the Thousand and One Nights | Feature film | |
| 1982 | The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball | Various characters | TV film |
| 1982 | Beauty and the Beast | Bearkeeper | TV film |
| 1984 | Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Sage | Feature film |
| 1984 | The Gourmet | Dr Grosvenor | TV film |
| 1985 | The Bride | Rinaldo | Feature film |
| 1986 | The Madness Museum | Ghengis | TV film |
| 1989 | Luigi's Ladies | Luigi | Feature film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Arthur of the Britons | Wood Person | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | Whodunnit? | Coco | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | Do You Remember? | Pedro | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | The Famous Five | Mr Wooh’s Assistant | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1979 | Not the Nine O'Clock News | Various | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1980 | Q5 | Various characters | TV series, 4 episodes |
| 1980–1981 | Jigsaw | O-Man | TV series, 12 episodes |
| 1981, 1982 | The Goodies | Robot / Chief Dwarf | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 1981–1982 | Tiswas | Shades | TV series, 7 episodes |
| 1982 | The Young Ones | Ftumch & Shirley | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1982 | There’s a Lot of it About | Various characters | 1985 |
| 1983 | Monaco Franze – Der ewige Stenz | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1984 | Unfair Exchanges | Arthur | TV series, Season 1 Episode 3 |
| 1984 | The Saturday Show | Shades | TV series |
| 1984 | Dramarama | Luko | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1984 | Screen Two | Arthur | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1985 | The Kenny Everett Television Show | Various | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1985 | Summer Season | Chimp | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1986 | Fortune Dane | Augie Briscoe | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1986 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Cluracan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1986 | Robin of Sherwood (aka Robin Hood) | Skulley | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1986 | Amazing Stories | Ancient Tree Troll | TV series, Season 1 Episode 16: "Gather Ye Acorns" |
| 1986–1987 | The Wizard | Simon McKay | TV series, 19 episodes |
| 1987, 1989 | L.A. Law | Hamilton Schuyler | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1988 | Hooperman | Nick Derringer | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1988 | Mr. Belvedere | Galen Belvedere | TV series, Season 5 Episode 6: "Duel" |
| 1989 | A Fine Romance | Dr Tomas | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1989 | Peter Gunn | Speck | TV series |
| 1990 | Beyond the Groove | Sir Harold Blamdford | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1990 | Captain Planet | MAL (voice) | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1990 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Kivas Fajo | TV series, Episode: The Most Toys (unreleased version) |
References
edit- ^ "David Rappaport, Character Actor, 38, Seen on 'L.A. Law'". New York Times. 4 May 1990. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ^ "David Rappaport Pages – biographical". Retrieved 7 February 2009.
- ^ "TNG S3 Blus: David Rappaport "The Most Toys" Footage Will Be Included". 31 March 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ^ "Star Wars to Snow White: The life of a dwarf actor". BBC News. 23 December 1999. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
- ^ Jocelyn Y. Stewart (4 May 1990). "Actor Rappaport Apparent Suicide Victim". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ The Wizard Official Fansite & Definitive Cyberhome
- ^ Summary of Baywatch episode "Short Sighted"[permanent dead link] at TV.com