David Rappaport
| David Rappaport | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
David Stephen Rappaport 23 November 1951 London, England |
| Died | 2 May 1990 (aged 38) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide by shooting |
| Occupation | Actor, musician, writer, director, teacher |
| Years active | 1975–1990 |
| Website | davidrappaport |
David Stephen Rappaport (23 November 1951 – 2 May 1990) was an English actor, one of the best known dwarf actors in television and film, known for his roles in the films Time Bandits and The Bride, and television series such as L.A. Law, The Wizard and Captain Planet and the Planeteers. He was reported standing 3' 11" (1.19 m), although he told newspapers different heights, ranging from 3' 6" (1.07 m) up to 4 feet (1.22 m).
Rappaport was born to Jewish taxi driver Mark and his wife Diana, née Schneiderman in London, England. He was born with achondroplasia, 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. 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.
David Rappaport first came to public notability in children's television, appearing alongside Sylvester McCoy as an O-Man in the 1979 BBC children's 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 pair also appeared in the anarchic Ken Campbell Road Show. Rappaport was with the Road Show in 1979 when it featured in the 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...".
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