# David Bamber

David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. His credits include Privates on Parade (1983), Juliet Bravo (1983), Crown Court (1984), Call Me Mister (1986), The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Chalk (1997), Mile High (2004), Beethoven (2005), Rome (2005-2007), Valkyrie (2008), Psychoville (2009-2011), The Borgias (2011), The Hollow Crown (2012), What Remains (2013), Darkest Hour (2017), Borg vs McEnroe (2017), Peterloo (2018), A Very English Scandal (2018), Flesh and Blood (2020) and The Regime (2024).
His most notable achievement was winning the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance as Guy in My Night with Reg.

## Early years

Bamber was born 19 September 1954 in Walkden, Lancashire. His very first stage performance was aged 5 as a pig in Tom Tom the Piper's Son. He joined the Manchester Youth Theatre, playing Pandarus in Troilus and Cressida. Bamber studied acting at Bristol University from 1973 to 1976, graduating with a drama degree. He continued his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) graduating 1979, with an Acting (RADA Diploma).

## Career

Bamber's first film role was in 1982 as Sergeant Charles Bishop in the World War II comedy Privates on Parade (1983). he made appearances in Juliet Bravo (1983), and Crown Court (1984), before securing a regular role as Fred Hurley in Call Me Mister (1986).
He appeared in the BBC adaptations of Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in which he portrayed the Bennets' clergyman cousin, Mr. Collins. He also played the part of a junior treasury minister and stamp collecting enthusiast, Julian Whitaker, in an episode of The New Statesman, in which Alan frames Whitaker and forces his resignation. In 1997 he starred as Eric Slatt in two series of Steven Moffat's Chalk,
His best known international television role to date was his 2005–2007 role as Marcus Tullius Cicero in the HBO/BBC2 original television series, Rome. In Poirot, Series 3: Episode 7 "The Double Clue", he plays the effete middleman to a jewellery collector who is robbed. Bamber also played Adolf Hitler in Bryan Singer's film, Valkyrie. He played the part of Noel in the Sky Atlantic series Camping, and Admiral Ramsay in the 2017 film Darkest Hour.
As a stage actor, Bamber won the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance as Guy in My Night with Reg, a role he reprised in a 1996 BBC television adaptation. His roles as a voice actor include Emperor Constantine in the Doctor Who audio drama, The Council of Nicaea and as Jeremy Longstaff in the 2008 radio series The Way We Live Right Now.
In 2013, he starred as Mathematics teacher Joe Sellers, alongside David Threlfall and Russell Tovey in the murder mystery miniseries What Remains.

## Personal life

Bamber is married to the actress Julia Swift, daughter of actors David Swift and Paula Jacobs. They have two sons, Theo (1991) and Ethan (1998). Ethan has played cricket for England U19s and Middlesex. The family lives in North London.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Privates on Parade | Sergeant Charles Bishop | |
| 1983 | The Oresteia | Chorus | |
| 1985 | The Doctor and the Devils | Cronin | |
| 1988 | High Hopes | Rupert | |
| 1990 | Who Bombed Birmingham? | David Mellor MP, Home Office | TV film |
| 1991 | Dakota Road | Man on the Train | |
| 1993 | Stalag Luft | The Prof | TV film |
| 1995 | Heavy Weather | P. Frobisher Pilbeam | TV film |
| 1997 | My Night with Reg | Guy | |
| 1998 | Neville's Island | Angus | TV film |
| 2002 | The Bourne Identity | Consulate Clerk | |
| 2002 | George Eliot: A Scandalous Life | Gossip | TV film |
| 2002 | Gangs of New York | Passenger on Omnibus | |
| 2003 | Pollyanna | Reverend Ford | TV film |
| 2003 | I Capture the Castle | Vicar | |
| 2006 | Miss Potter | Fruing Warne | |
| 2007 | The All Together | Robin Swain | |
| 2007 | Consenting Adults | Dr. Carl Winter | TV film |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | Adolf Hitler | |
| 2010 | The Village [de] | Dr. Wagner | TV film |
| 2010 | The King's Speech | Theatre Director | |
| 2012 | The Nazi Gospels | Heinrich Himmler | TV film documentary |
| 2015 | Christmas Eve | Walt | |
| 2015 | The Sound of Music Live | Herr Zeller | TV film |
| 2016 | The Limehouse Golem | Mr. Greatorex | |
| 2016 | Chubby Funny | Mr. White | |
| 2016 | One Crazy Thing | Michael Steel | |
| 2017 | Mad to Be Normal | Dr. Meredith | |
| 2017 | Darkest Hour | Admiral Ramsay | |
| 2017 | Borg vs McEnroe | UK Commentator - George Barnes | |
| 2018 | This Weekend Will Change Your Life | David | |
| 2018 | Peterloo | Magistrate Rev Mallory | |
| 2020 | Enola Holmes | Sir Whimbrel | |
| 2021 | End of Term | DI Jim Burman | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Brass | Heseltine | 1 episode |
| 1983 | Juliet Bravo | Mr. Saddlethwaite | Episode: "Mates" |
| 1984 | Crown Court | John Elliott | Episode: "Oddball: Part 1" |
| 1984 | Cockles | Graham | Recurring role |
| 1984 | The Brief | Lieutenant Dadd | Episode: "Long Glyn" |
| 1986 | Call Me Mister | Fred Hurley | Series regular |
| 1987 | Never Say Die | Verger | 1 episode |
| 1988 | A Very Peculiar Practice | Professor Eric Middling | Episode: "Bad Vibrations" |
| 1991 | The New Statesman | Julian Whitaker | Episode: "Natural Selection" |
| 1991 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Bernard Parker | Episode: "The Double Clue" |
| 1991 | 4 Play | Ted in 'Well Wishers' | Episode: "Seduction" |
| 1991 | The Bill | George Smith | Episode: "Samaritan" |
| 1992 | The Good Guys | Hubert Manuden | Episode: "Her Finest Hour" |
| 1993 | Comedy Playhouse | Chris | Episode: "The Complete Guide to Relationships" |
| 1993 | The Buddha of Suburbia | Shadwell | TV Mini-series, 4 episodes |
| 1994 | The Chief | Philip Garrick | Episode #4.9 |
| 1994 | Murder Most Horrid | Ray | Episode: "Smashing Bird" |
| 1994 | Wycliffe | Guy Bottrell | Episode: "The Dead Flautist" |
| 1994 | The Bill | Chris Baxter | Episode: "Games" |
| 1995 | Capital Lives | Fry | Episode: "Temp" |
| 1995 | Pride and Prejudice | Mr. Collins | Mini-series, 6 episodes |
| 1996 | Heartbeat | Adrian Shaw | Episode: "Forget Me Not" |
| 1996 | Masterpiece | P. Frobisher Pilbeam | Episode: "Heavy Weather" |
| 1997 | Chalk | Eric Slatt | Series regular |
| 2000 | Masterpiece | Doctor Forrest | Episode: "The Railway Children" |
| 2001 | Masterpiece | Antonio | Episode: "The Merchant of Venice" |
| 2002 | Daniel Deronda | Lush | Mini-series |
| 2002 | Casualty | Dr. Martin Campbell | Episode: "Scapegoat" |
| 2003 | Air Crash Investigation | Narrator | Documentary series |
| 2004 | Mile High | Bobbi Donnelly | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Animated Tales of the World | Wang Bao's Father | Episode: "The Magic Gourd" |
| 2005 | Beethoven | Prince Lichnowsky | Mini-series - documentary |
| 2005-2007 | Rome | Marcus Tullius Cicero | Recurring role |
| 2006 | Midsomer Murders | John Starkey | Episode: "Dead Letters" |
| 2007 | Trial & Retribution | Rex Stafford | Episode: "Curriculum Vitae" |
| 2007 | New Tricks | Dale Hewson | Episode: "Nine Lives" |
| 2007 | The Bill | Howard Gould | Episode: "Diamonds Are Deadly" |
| 2007 | Robin Hood | Physician Blight | Episode: "Ducking and Diving" |
| 2007 | Doc Martin | Mr. Porter | Episode: "Happily Ever After" |
| 2008 | EastEnders | Bernard | 1 episode |
| 2008 | The Way We Live Right Now | Right Honorable Jeremy Longstaff | |
| 2009 | Hotel Babylon | Robert Carrick | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Collision | Sidney Norris | Mini-series |
| 2009 | Midsomer Murders | Anthony Prideaux | Episode: "The Black Book" |
| 2009-2011 | Psychoville | Robin | Recurring role |
| 2011 | The Borgias | Theo | 2 episodes |
| 2012 | The Hollow Crown | Shallow | Episode: "Henry IV, Part 2" |
| 2012 | The Paradise | Charles Chisholm | 1 episode |
| 2013 | Blandings | Herr Schnellhund | Episode: "Company for Gertrude" |
| 2013 | What Remains | Joe Sellers | Mini-series |
| 2014 | Casualty | Anthony Kingston | Episode: "In the Name of Love" |
| 2014 | Doctor Who | Captain Quell | Episode: "Mummy on the Orient Express" |
| 2015 | Father Brown | Walter Hubble | Episode: "The Curse of Amenhotep" |
| 2015 | Death in Paradise | Alan Butler | Episode: "Damned If You Do..." |
| 2015 | Doctors | Professor Jeremy Burroughs | Episode: "In the Presence of Beauty" |
| 2016 | Midsomer Murders | Daniel Fargo | Episode: "A Dying Art" |
| 2016 | Camping | Noel | Mini-series, 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Plebs | Strabo | Episode: "The Weatherist" |
| 2016 | Victoria | Duke of Sussex | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Medici | Pope Eugenius IV | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Tina and Bobby | Alf Ramsey | Mini-series |
| 2017 | Snatch | Staff | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Quacks | Dr. Wyatt | Episode: "The Bishops Appendix" |
| 2017 | Gunpowder | Lord Northumberland | Mini-series |
| 2018 | Silent Witness | Brian Hawke | Episode: "Moment of Surrender" |
| 2018 | Call the Midwife | Stanley Hodgkiss | 1 episode |
| 2018 | A Very English Scandal | Lord Arran | Mini-series |
| 2018 | Trust | Bela von Block | Recurring role |
| 2018 | Doctors | Derek Bartlett | Episode: "Face-Off" |
| 2019 | Queens of Mystery | Maximilian Sinclair | Episode: "Murder in the Dark: First Chapter" |
| 2019 | Urban Myths | Drunk | Episode: "Madonna and Basquiat" |
| 2020 | Grantchester | John Graham | Episode #5.2 |
| 2020 | Inside No. 9 | Robin | Episode: "Death Be Not Proud" |
| 2020 | Flesh and Blood | D.I. Doug Lineham | TV Mini-series, 4 episodes |
| 2024 | The Regime | Schiff | TV Mini-series, 2 episodes |