A tall and imposing actor, David began performing as a child, singing in New York's All Borough Chorus. After graduating from the renowned High School of Performing Arts, he studied theater and voice at Juilliard. Within hours of graduating, he was rehearsing for Joseph Papp's Public Theater production of "Coriolanus" opposite Christopher Walken. He went on to understudy Raul Julia in the title role of "Othello" at the Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. For much of the 1980s, David alternated between theater, TV movies, and films, making his Broadway debut in Albee's "The Lady From Dubuque" (1980) and his feature debut in John Carpenter's remake of "The Thing" (1982). He garnered critical praise for his turn as King in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning "Platoon" (1986). Other notable movie performances are as jazz saxophonist Buster Franklin in Clint Eastwood's "Bird" (1988) and as a paraplegic Vietnam veteran in "Article 99" (1992). He returned to Broadway, winning critical kudos (and a Tony nomination) for his sensational singing and dancing in "Jelly's Last Jam" (1992) opposite Gregory Hines. In 1995, David received attention for a quartet of roles: a gunfighter hired to kill Gene Hackman in "The Quick and the Dead"; a tough but paternalistic housing cop in Spike Lee's "Clockers"; Jackie Robinson in a fantasy sequence of "Blue in the Face"; and a one-legged owner of a pool hall in "Dead Presidents". David has a secondary career providing narration for National Geographic specials and character voices for two Disney-produced animated series, "Aladdin" and "Gargoyles".
- Born:
May 8, 1954 in New York, New York
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Job Titles:
Actor, Singer, Voice actor
Education
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The School of Performing Arts, New York, New York, 1975
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The Juilliard School, New York, New York, acting and music, BFA, 1979
Milestones
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1979 First TV appearance, "Roots: The Next Generations"
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1979 Stage debut in Public Theatre production of "Coriolanus" opposite Christopher Walken
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1980 Broadway debut in Edward Albee's "The Lady From Dubuque"
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1982 Feature film debut, "The Thing"
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1986 Appeared to critical acclaim in Oliver Stone's "Platoon"
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1988 Co-starred in "They Live"
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1992 Played featured role in Broadway production of "Jelly's Last Jam"
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1995 Returned to Broadway in the leading role of August Wilson's "Seven Guitars"
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1997 Voiced Apollo in Disney's animated "Hercules"
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1998 Appeared as an Army general in the sci-fi blockbuster "Armegeddon"
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1998 Cast as Cameron Diaz's stepfather in "There's Something About Mary"
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1998 Played golf great Tiger Woods' father Earl Woods in the telepic "The Tiger Woods Story"
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2000 Starred as Leontes in the Central Park staging of "The Winter's Tale"
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2001 Cast in title role of "Othello" in a New York Shakespeare Festival staging
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2001 Had pivotal role as a drug dealer in "Requiem for a Dream"
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2002 Appeared as part of the acclaimed ensemble of the comedy hit film "Barbershop"
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2002 Played The Sheriff in the off-kilter thriller "29 Palms"
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2003 Appeared as the CIA director in the youth-skewing action-comedy "Agent Cody Banks"
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2003 Played Harrison Ford's boss as a chief detective in the action-comedy "Hollywood Homicide"
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2004 Revised role as the CIA Director in "Agent Cody Banks 2"
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2005 Cast opposite Jason Statham in "The Transporter 2" a film penned by Luc Besson
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2006 Co-starred in the crime drama, "Dirty" opposite Cuba Gooding Jr.
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2007 Co-starred in the comedy "Delta Farce"