Birney, David

David Birney

David Birney was born on April 23, 1939 in Washington, District of Columbia, US.  He attended Dartmouth college, graduating in 1961 with a B.A. in English and also attended UCLA where he earned a Masters Degree in Theatre.

Birney was once married to Merideth Baxter-Birney (actress), whom he met while filming Bridget Loves Birney in 1972.  They have three children: Kate, and twins: Ellis and Mollie - all have worked in the entertainment industry.

David Birney died on April 27, 2022 from complications from Alzheimer's which had been diagnosed in 2017.

Film
2000

The Comedy of Errors - The Duke

1992
The Naked Truth - Fed. #2

1991
Touch and Die - Scanzano

1988
Nightfall - Aton

1987
Prettykill - Larry Turner

1982
Richard II (V) - Richard II

1980
Oh, God! Book II - Don Richards

1979
Au revoir à lundi - Frank

1976
Trial by Combat - Sir John Gifford (see Actor Connections - Film)

1974
Caravan to Vaccares - Neil Bowman

TV
2007

Without a Trace - Leslie Warwick in Deep Water
Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve

2002
Brilliant But Cancelled - Himself
The Perfect Pitch - Himself

1999
Poltergeist: The Legacy - Father Elias in The Portents

1998
The Love Boat: The Next Wave - Buddy Pomus in I Can't Get No Satisfaction

1995

Sliders - Cadmus in  Prophets and Loss
Live Shot - Harry Chandler Moore

1994
Burke's Law - Jim Deacon in  Who Killed the Motor Car Maverick?

1993

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Senator Letant in Tears of the Prophets
Murder, She Wrote - Lawrence Baker in The Legacy of Borbey House

1992
Secrets (mini) - Thomas Strickland
Murder, She Wrote - Earl Harper in  The Monte Carlo Murders
The Ray Bradbury Theatre - in The Earthmen

1991
Keeping Secrets - Alan Hamel

1990

Murder, She Wrote -  Lawrence Erlich in The Great Twain Robbery

Always Remember I Love You - Philip Mendham
Night of the Fox - Hugh Kelso

1989
Matlock - Jack McCarthy in  The Con Man (4.7) 11/7/89
Murder, She Wrote - Franchesco in  Prediction: Murder (5.8) 1/1/89
15 and Getting Straight - Dr. DeVito
Love and Betrayal - Bill Landry

1988
The Diaries of Adam and Eve - Adam

1987
The Long Journey Home - Carter Wells

1986
Power's Play - Lucas Cord
Seal Morning  -  Dr. Bernard Lacey

The Twilight Zone -  Dr. Myron Mandel in  Tooth and Consequences (1.41) 1/31/86

1984
Glitter - Sam Dillon (see Actor Connections - TV)

Master of the Game (mini) - David Blackwell (see Actor Connections - TV)

 

1983
Battle of the Network Stars XIV - Himself (NBC Team contestant)

1982-1983

St. Elsewhere - Dr. Ben Samuels

1982

The Love Boat - Paulo De Matzee in  Venetian Love Song/The Arrangement/Arrividerci, Gopher/The Gigolo: Parts 1 & 2 (6.1-2) 10/2/82

1981

Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls - Lyon Burke
The Five of Me - Henry Hawksworth
I Think I'm Having a Baby - Mr. Fenning

1980

Mom, the Wolfman and Me - Theo Marker
OHMS~1980 - Jack Coker

1979
High Midnight - Tony Giannetti
Family - Joe Alcott in Malicious Mischief (4.12) 1/25/79

1978
Fantasy Island - Sgt. Alan Boardman in The Sheikh/The Homecoming (2.1) 9/16/78
The Love Boat - Mike in Marooned: Parts 1 & 2 (2.2) 9/16/78
Someone's Watching Me! - Paul Winkless
Greatest Heroes of the Bible(mini) - Daniel

1977
Testimony of Two Men (mini) - Jonathan 'Jon' Ferrier

1976
Bronk - in The Ordeal (# 1.22) 3/7/76
Police Story - Officer Andrew Dooly in Officer Dooly (3.21) 3/5/76
The Streets of San Francisco - in Clown of Death (4.20) 2/26/76
Medical Center - Nick Matero in A Touch of Sight (7.20) 2/16/76
Serpico - Officer Frank Serpico
Serpico: The Deadly Game - Officer Frank Serpico

The Adams Chronicles (mini) - John Quincy Adams (age 36-48) (see Actor Connections - TV)

1975

Cannon - Jeff Restin in The Wrong Medicine (5.3) 9/24/75
Hawaii Five-O - in Murder - Eyes Only (8.1) 9/12/75
Police Woman - Shawn Barry in  The Bloody Nose (1.21) 3/15/75
Medical Center - MacDonald 'Mac' Guthrie in If Mine Eye Offends Me (6.20) 2/24/75
McMillan and Wife - Randy in Love, Honor and Swindle (4.6) 2/16/75
Bronk - Willie Harvey

1974
Only with Married Men - Dave Andrews
Murder or Mercy - Dr. Peter Peterson
Police Story - Officer Joe Waldron in  Captain Hook (2.11) 12/17/74

1973
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In - Himself - Guest Performer in Episode #137 (6.21) 2/19/73
Great Mysteries - Harry Langley in  The Ingenious Reporter

1972
Ghost Story - John
Bridget Loves Bernie - Bernie Steinberg
Ghost Story (pilot) - John in The New House (1.0) 3/17/72
Cannon - Terry Alexander in  Cain's Mark (1.23) 3/7/72
Hawaii Five-O - in Follow the White Brick Road (4.23) 2/29/72

1971
The F.B.I. - in The Minerva Tapes (7.12) 12/5/71

1970-1971
A World Apart - Oliver Harrell

1969-1970
Love Is a Many Splendored Thing~1967 - Mark Elliott #2 (1969-1970)

1968
St. Joan - Brother Martin

TV Other
Great American TV Poll
Raising Kids, WXXI/PBS-TV, Series
Good Morning America, ABC-TV
Beyond 2000, CIC Productions, Syndicated Series
Missing-Have You Seen This Person? Specials, NBC
Literacy in the Work Place, PBS
A Job to be Done, Documentary, PBS.
A.M. New York Morning Show, WABC-TV
A.M. Los Angeles Morning Show, KABC-TV
Morning Exchange, WEWS-TV, Cleveland
America, Syndicated
Fields of Fear, CBS-TV San Francisco
Drop Everything and Read, CBS Special

Theatre
2006

Murder in the First -  (see Actor Connections - Theatre)
The Stallion Howl - Shy New York Attorney (Rubicon Theatre, Ventura, CA)

2005
A Touch of the Poet - Con Melody (Alex Theatre, Glendale, CA)
The Price - Walter (New England Tour, CT/MA)

2004
A Christmas Pudding - (Westwood Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, CA)

2003
Four Green Fields: A Terrible Beauty - (UCLA Royce Hall, Los Angeles, CA)
Merchant of Venice - Shylock (The Colonial Theater: Shakespeare in the Park, Shakespeare by the Sea Providence, RI)

2002
The Zoo Story - Jerry (Longacre Theatre, New York City, NY)

1996
Man and Superman - Jack Tanner (Roundabout Theatre Company, New York City, NY)

Diaries of Adam and Eve - Adam (American Theatre Company, Chicago, IL)

1995

Endgame - Clove (Theatre d'Atelier, Paris, France)

1993-1994

Love Letters - Andrew (with his then wife Meredith Baxter) (National Tour)

1991
Because He Can - Joe Elliot (George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ)

1990

To Kill a Mockingbird - Atticus Finch (Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA)

1989

Rumors - Lenny Ganz (Garrick Theatre, London, England, UK)

1985
Benefactors - David (Lortel Theatre Company, New York City, NY)

1984

The Playboy of the Western World - Christy Mahon (Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, CA)

1982
Guys and Dolls~ - Sky (Marquise Theatre - Broadway, New York City, NY)

1981-1982

My Fair Lady - Higgins (Shubert Theatre, New York City, NY)

1981
Camelot - King Arthur (Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, England, UK)

Importance of Being Earnest - Algernon (Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, CA)

Amadeus - Salieri (Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, CA)

1980-1981
Talley's Folley - Matt Friedman (Broadway Theatre, New York City, NY)

1980

Social Security - David (Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, CA)

1979

Diaries of Adam & Eve - Adam (Los Angeles Theater Center, Los Angeles, CA)

1975
Comedy of Errors~ - Antypholus of Syacuse (New York Shakespeare Festival, New York City, NY)

1974
Present Laughter - Gary Essendine (Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, England, UK)

1972

Hamlet - Hamlet (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

Macbeth - Macbeth (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

Antony and Cleopatra - Antony (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

Twelfth Night - Orsino (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

1971
Summertree - Young Man (Theatre De Lys - now known as Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York City, NY)

Romeo and Juliet - Romeo/Mercutio (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

Richard II - Richard II (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

Richard III - Richard III (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

Much Ado About Nothing - Benedick (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

1970

Major Barbara - Adolphus Cusins (American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, CT)

Theatre Director
2004

A Christmas Pudding - (Westwood Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, CA; The Rubicon Theatre, Ventura/Santa Barbara, CA; Palm Springs, CA)

2001

Because He Can - (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, US)
Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve - (The Capitol Repertory Theatre, Albany, New  York, US; City Stage, Springfield, Massachusetts; The Rubicon Theatre, Ventura/Santa Barbara, CA)

2000

Moon for the Misbegotten - (Berkshires, Massachusetts)

1982
A Life in the Theatre - (Los Angeles, CA; Riviera Theater, Chicago, IL)

1980

Sorrows of Steven - (Dartmouth Repertory Company; Los Angeles Theatre Company, Los Angeles, CA)

1979
Diaries of Adam and Eve - (Barter Theatre, Tours: East & West Coast; Hartford Stage Company; Plaza Theatre, Dallas; Dartmouth College)

1978
Anthology - (Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA)

1977
The Zoo Story - (UCLA Theatre, Los Angeles, CA; Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA)

Theatre Other
2006-2007

The Diaries of Adam and Eve - (Buckham Alley Theatre, Flint, MI) (adapted story)

2003 - (Edited and Adapted) (UCLA Royce Hall)

Audio Book and Plays (Narrator/Reader)
2006

The Secret

2005

Speaker for the Dead
Ponzi's Scheme

2004

Reversible Errors

2001

Sole Survivor

Last Laughs: The Comedy of the 20th Century

Out on The Rim

2000

2000x

Great Cat Mysteries, An Anthology of Feline Capers

1999

Silent Snow
For the Time Being

Best of the West, Classic stories of the American Frontier

1998
The Fall of a Sparrow
Sir Vidia's Shadow

The Law of Similars
Titanic Hearings
Riptide
Double Image

Poems of Love and Desire: An Anthology of Love Poetry Throughout the Ages (also produced)

Murder for Christmas

1997
Short Stories of Paul Theroux

Poems of Love and Desire - edited, produced, read

The Little Prince

1996

Murder on the Aisle /reader (see Actor Connections - Audio Plays)

1995

The Spirit of St. Louis

1992

The Pioneers

The Christmas Tree - narrated

1991

The Last Convertible

Cape Cod

Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve

Beastly Tales

1989

The Only Game in Town

1987

The Great Gatsby

Night of the Fox

Radio
2003

Speaker for the Dead
The Conspiracy Club

2002
Reversible Errors

2001
Shadow of the Hedgemon

1999
2000x Tales of the Next Millenia (see Actor Connections - Radio)
The Diary of Anne Frank

1998
An American Daughter

The Extra Man

1997
Tears of Rage

Murder in the First

1996
Star Wars - Return of the Jedi Radio Drama - voice of  Anakin Skywalker

1988

Julius Caesar

1987
The Christmas Tree

1982

The White Plague

Awards, Honors and Nominations
Listed Alphabetically

Audie Awards:
1998

Rec'd for The Christmas Tree
AudioFiles Magazine Earphones Award:
2003

Rec'd for Exceptional Audio Performance for Speaker for the Dead
Barter Theatre Award:
1965

Rec'd
Buffalo Courier Express Award:
1972

Rec'd for his role as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet
L.A. Weekly Award:
1980

Rec'd Best Director for A Life in Theatre
McCall's Magazine Humanitarian Award:
1988

Rec'd
Millenium Recognition Award (Shakespeare Theatre, Wash., DC):
1999

Rec'd for his contribution to classical theatre.
Photoplay Magazine Award:
1973

Rec'd for Bridget Loves Bernie
Theatre World Award:
1968

Rec'd Best Performance as the dying soldier/young man in Summertree
Walden Books Awards:
1988

Rec'd (audio presentation)

Miscellany
Was once the Grand Marshall for the parade for the Irish Faire held in Burbank, California in the late 1980s.

Has run in the LA and NY marathons

For five years he chaired the American Diabetes Association

Has been twice a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts

Served on the Dartmouth College Board of Overseers for the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts

Serves on the Board of the Foundation for Bio-Medical Research, the Advisory Panel for the Council for Children's Rights

A long time spokesperson for children's and educational issues.