David Lyon (actor)
David Lyon | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 7 June 2013 | (aged 72)
Alma mater | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1975–2011 |
David Laurie Lyon (16 May 1941 – 7 June 2013) was a British stage, television, and film actor.[2]
Early life, education, and early career
Of Scottish descent, David Lyon was born in 1941 to Joe Lyon, a diamond merchant, and his wife Margaret.
David spent much of his childhood in Sierra Leone where his father worked, before being sent home to be educated at Crofton House in Dumfriesshire in Scotland. He won a scholarship to Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, but was forced to leave education at the age of 16 when his father was declared bankrupt.
He first worked in Glasgow for Royal Insurance, before moving south to England to work as a flooring salesman in Birmingham. At the age of 30 he decided to switch careers to acting.
Acting career
Lyon studied acting at the
He also worked steadily in television after 1980, and in a few feature films as well. In 1983 he had a lead role as the newsreader in the feature film The Ploughman's Lunch, and was Lieutenant Colonel Vernon Erskine-Crum in the serial Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy. He was a cast member of the television series The Gemini Factor (1987),[4] and was Commander Brian Huxtable in the BBC crime drama series Between the Lines (1992).
In the original BBC version of the political thriller House of Cards (1990), he played the "thoroughly decent"[2] Prime Minister Henry Collingridge, opposite Ian Richardson as the Machiavellian Francis Urquhart. He was also a familiar face on series such as The Bill, Lovejoy, Taggart, Holby City, Midsomer Murders, Silent Witness, and Poirot.
Personal life
Lyon lived for many years with fellow
References
- ^ a b "Obituary: David Lyon, actor". The Scotsman. 28 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d Michael Coveney (26 June 2013). "David Lyon obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ David Lyon at Theatricalia
- Internet Movie Database
External links
- David Lyon at IMDb
- David Lyon at The British Theatre Guide
- David Lyon at Theatricalia
- David Lyon at the British Film Institute
- Obituary in The Daily Telegraph
- Obituary in The Stage
- Obituary in the Herald Scotland