David Meyer

In 2008 David appeared on two London stages. Early in the year he played the exorcist, Rabbi Azriel, in Eve Leigh's production of The Dybbuk at the Kings Head. 'Immense presence... imbues the whole play with subtle gravitas,' said the reviews. In a lighter vein and on a larger stage, Richard Jones cast him as the Stage Manager in his ENO production of Pagliacci. During a lengthy scene-change he held the audience's attention simply by pacing up and down in front of the Coliseum curtain. 

That was in silence. Meanwhile his voice was to be heard regularly on Absolute Radio as part of its re-launch and re-branding process.

David is often cast as the voice of authority - comic or otherwise. From the absurd General in The Police at the BAC to both Dukes in As You Like It at the Northcott, Exeter, he has shown his naturally commanding stage presence. On the screen his casting has been more varied - a sinister Gestapo agent in Sean Mathias's film of Bent, the lame man being healed in Philip Saville's The Gospel of John, and a precise scientist in a Morse episode directed by Danny Boyle. His best known appearance is as the Russian knife-throwing villain Grischka in the James Bond film Octopussy, alongside his twin brother Tony.

David's career started in Peter Brook's legendary RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and his subsequent work has often been with memorable directors. He was a founder member of the Lindsay Kemp Company, toured in Steven Berkoff's production of Hamlet, and featured in the films of Peter Greenaway and Derek Jarman. He has worked as a director himself, staging new pieces by Michael Nyman and Harrison Birtwistle at the Donmar Warehouse. At Sadlers Wells, he directed Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, conducted by Richard Hickox, and subsequently recorded by Virgin at Abbey Road studios. He also works as a teacher for the formidable Education programme at Shakespeare's Globe, where he is often found doing their Sunday afternoon play readings.