David Rappaport

2022-12-24T22:28:55Z

86.22.32.178: /* Career */

{{short description|Actor, musician, writer, director, teacher (1951–1990)}}
{{For|persons of similar names|David Rappaport (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| image = David_rappaport_publicity.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = David Stephen Rappaport
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1951|11|23}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1990|5|2|1951|11|23}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| resting_place = Waltham Abbey Jewish Cemetery, Waltham Abbey, Epping Forest District, Essex, England
| occupation = Actor, musician, writer, director, teacher
| years_active = 1971–1990
| known_for = [[Time Bandits]] (1981)<br/>[[Robin of Sherwood]] (1986)
| parents =
| website = {{url|davidrappaport.co.uk}}
}}
'''David Stephen Rappaport''' (23 November 1951 – 2 May 1990) was an English actor with [[achondroplasia]]. He appeared in the films ''[[Time Bandits]]'' and ''[[The Bride (1985 film)|The Bride]]'', and television series ''[[L.A. Law]]'', ''[[The Wizard (TV series)|The Wizard]]'' and ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]''. He was 3' 11" (1.19 m) in height.<ref>{{cite news|title= David Rappaport, Character Actor, 38, Seen on 'L.A. Law'|work= New York Times|date=4 May 1990|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/04/obituaries/david-rappaport-character-actor-38-seen-on-la-law.html|access-date=10 August 2010}}</ref>

==Early life==
Rappaport was born to [[Jewish]] taxi driver Mark and his wife Diana, née Schneiderman in London. He was born with [[achondroplasia]],{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.hetnet.nl/~motinni/biographical/bio-index.html |title=David Rappaport Pages – biographical |access-date=7 February 2009}}</ref> 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==
David 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 (UK TV 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 ''[[The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)|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 (TV series)|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 (ITV TV series)|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 [[ITV Wales & West|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|Ki Longfellow-Stanshall]] and [[Vivian Stanshall]]'s ship moored in the Bristol docks, the [[The Thekla|Old Profanity Showboat]] where he often appeared on stage. Rappaport appeared in 1985's ''[[The Bride (1985 film)|The Bride]]'' as a circus dwarf who befriends [[Frankenstein's monster]] (played by {{convert|6|ft|4|in|abbr=on}} [[Clancy Brown]]). In 1986, Rappaport appeared on the 1985-1987 [[NBC]] TV Series [[Amazing Stories (1985 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 (TV series)|The Wizard]]''. Rappaport also made guest appearances on such shows as ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]'', ''[[The Young Ones (television series)|The Young Ones]]'', and ''[[L.A. Law]]''. In LA Law, Rappaport played crack trial lawyer Hamilton Schuyler from Texas, in two episodes. Both episodes were significant roles, opposing Jimmy Smits. The second of these, The Mouse that Roared, was filmed only 6 months prior to his death. 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 passing 4 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==
In 1987, Rappaport was [[best man]] at the wedding of [[Hazel O'Connor]] and artist Kurt Bippert, which took place on [[Venice Beach, California]].{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}

Rappaport struggled with [[clinical depression|depression]] later in his life. Just before his death, he had been cast and began filming for the role of Kivas Fajo in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[The Most Toys (TNG 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''.<ref>{{cite web|title=TNG S3 Blus: David Rappaport "The Most Toys" Footage Will Be Included|date=31 March 2013|url=http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/03/tng-s3-blus-david-rappaport-the-most-toys-footage-will-be-included/|access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref>

On 2 May 1990, he [[suicide|took his own life]] by shooting himself in the chest in [[San Fernando Valley#Parks and recreation|Laurel Canyon Park]] in the [[San Fernando Valley]] in California.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/575114.stm |title=Star Wars to Snow White: The life of a dwarf actor |publisher=BBC News| date= 23 December 1999 |access-date=6 May 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=4 May 1990 |author=Jocelyn Y. Stewart |title=Actor Rappaport Apparent Suicide Victim |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-04-mn-145-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] }}</ref>

Two of the creators of the US television series ''[[The Wizard (TV 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''.<ref>[http://www.thewizardtvfansite.com The Wizard Official Fansite & Definitive Cyberhome]</ref><ref>[http://www.tv.com/baywatch/short-sighted/episode/26061/summary.html Summary of ''Baywatch'' episode "Short Sighted"]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at TV.com</ref>

==On stage==
* ''Sleep Fast, They've Landed (Everybody Wants a Frozen Donkey for Christmas)'' (1971-1972) – Yellow
* ''Stonehenge Follies''
* ''Illuminatus!'' (1975–1977) – Markoff Chaney
* ''Portland Bill Street Theatre''
* ''The Immortalist'' - Reporter/Interviewer
* ''Interplay''
* ''Volpone'' (1977) – Nano
* ''The Warp''
* ''Little Brother Is Watching You (Small Is Beautiful)'' (1979) – himself
* ''Secret Policeman's Ball 1979'' – as member of Ken Campbell Road Show
* ''Dr. Faustus'' (1980) – Beelzebub, Dick, Pope Adrian, and other characters
* ''Cinderella'' (1980)
* ''Exit The King'' (1983) – The Doctor
* ''Lulu'' (1985) – Schigolch

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1978|| ''[[Mysteries (1978 film)|Mysteries]] ([[:nl:Mysteries|nl]])'' || Grogard ||
|-
|1979|| ''[[Black Jack (1979 film)|Black Jack]]'' || Tom Thumb's Army ||
|-
|1979|| ''[[Cuba (film)|Cuba]]'' || Jesus ||
|-
|1979||''[[The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)]]''|| David Rappaport ||
|-
|1981|| ''[[Time Bandits]]'' || Randall ||
|-
|1984|| ''[[Sword of the Valiant]]'' || Sage ||
|-
|1984|| ''Unfair Exchanges'' || Arthur || ''[[Screen Two]]'', Series 1, Episode 3
|-
|1985|| ''[[The Bride (1985 film)|The Bride]]'' || Rinaldo ||
|-
|1986-1987|| ''[[The Wizard (TV series)|The Wizard]]'' || Simon McKay || 19 episodes
|-
|1989|| ''[[Luigi's Ladies]]'' || Luigi ||
|-
|1990|| ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers|Captain Planet]]'' || MAL || Voice
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0710884}}
* {{Find a Grave|9306|name=David Stephen Rappaport}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080116150440/http://www.shortsupport.org/cgi-bin/whowho_bio.cgi?seq=551&orderby=height&direction=ASC Rappaport at shortsupport.org]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappaport, David}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Actors with dwarfism]]
[[Category:Alumni of Bretton Hall College]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Bristol]]
[[Category:English expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Jewish English male actors]]
[[Category:Schoolteachers from London]]
[[Category:Squatters]]
[[Category:Micronational leaders]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in California]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:English drummers]]
[[Category:1990 suicides]]

The Goon Show Depository - User contributions [en]

David Rappaport