David Chapman is an English

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

presenter A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

and

voice artist Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Career

Chapman trained at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

(

LAMDA LaMDA, which stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications, is a family of conversational neural language models developed by Google. The first generation was announced during the 2021 Google I/O keynote, while the second generation was a ...

), graduating 1992, and

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

, April, 1994 at Jim Henson’s creature shop, Camden. His puppeteering work has featured in the films ''

Muppet Treasure Island ''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a 1996 American musical swashbuckler comedy film directed by Brian Henson. It is the fifth theatrical film in ''The Muppets'' franchise. Adapted from the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Robert Louis Stevenson, s ...

'', '' 101 Dalmatians'' (

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, 1996), ''

My Last Five Girlfriends ''My Last Five Girlfriends'' is a 2009 British romantic black comedy film directed by Julian Kemp starring Brendan Patricks, based on pop-philosopher Alain De Botton's book, ''Essays In Love'' (U.S. title ''On Love''). Plot After yet another ...

'' (Paramount), Ridley Scott's ''

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

'' (20th Century Fox), and ''

Muppets Most Wanted ''Muppets Most Wanted'' is a 2014 American musical crime comedy film and the eighth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Directed by James Bobin and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, the film is a sequel to ''The Muppets'' (2011) and stars ...

'' (Disney, 2014). On TV, his puppeteering work has featured in '' Wizards vs. Aliens'', ''

Captain Abercromby ''Captain Abercromby'' is a children's TV show that was on BBC Two in 2002–2003. Its cast are puppets. Series overview Captain Abercromby was a puppet series about a boy named Abercromby, who is raised by his grandfather. After hearing the ta ...

'', ''

Carrie and David's Popshop ''Carrie and David's Popshop'' is a children's musical television series aired on CBeebies, originally broadcast in 2008. It is presented by celebrity vocal coaches Carrie Grant and David Grant, with their pet dog Riff, puppeteered by Dave Ch ...

'', Children in Need, ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', ''

French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is al ...

'', '' Heroes of Comedy: Max Miller'', '' The Saturday Show'', '' Shooting Stars'', ''

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educati ...

'', ''

Time Trumpet ''Time Trumpet'' is a six-episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two in August 2006. The series was written by Armando Iannucci, Roger Drew and Will Smith in a similar manner to Iannucci's earlier one-off programmes, '' 20 ...

'', ''

The Tiny and Mr Duk Show Tiny and Mr Duk are two puppet characters created for UK children's TV show, '' The Saturday Show'' by Dave Chapman and Damian Farrell. Story Tiny is a giant hamster, created in an accident in a laboratory. Mr Duk is a duck who acts as Tiny's a ...

'', '' What's Up Doc?'', ''

Nuzzle and Scratch ''Nuzzle and Scratch'' is a British children's television programme, shown on CBeebies from 1 Sep 2008 and ran for three series with two spin offs up to 4 Mar 2011. The show also aired on Disney Channel preschool block Playhouse Disney in the Uni ...

'', ''

Xchange XChange or X-Change may refer to: * XChange (film), ''XChange'' (film), a 2000 Canadian science fiction film * Xchange (TV series), ''Xchange'' (TV series), was a BBC Children's television programme * X-Change, a Chinese spin-off from Wife Swap (UK ...

'', ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' and on Jim Henson Company's ''

Pajanimals ''Jim Henson's Pajanimals'' (a portmanteau of the words ''pajamas'' and ''animals'') is an American-British children's TV series created by Jeff Muncy and Alex Rockwell. The Pajanimals are characters that were made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop ...

''. He has had a long association with

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

, first working as the writer, puppeteer and voice artist for

Otis the Aardvark Otis the Aardvark was a puppet of an aardvark that was a presenter on BBC Children's and Education, Children's BBC on British television.Rich Pelley (14 June 2020)Pulling the strings: meet the people who brought puppets to life ''The Observer'' ...

between 1994 and 1999. It was in this role that he first worked with children's presenters

Richard McCourt Richard "Dick" McCourt (born 12 August 1976) is an English entertainer and presenter. He is best known as one half of the comic duo Dick and Dom, with the other being Dominic Wood. His older brother is fellow television presenter James McCourt ...

and

Dominic Wood Dominic Simon "Dom" Wood (born 3 January 1978) is an English entertainer, magician and presenter of radio and television, best known as one half of the double act Dick and Dom, with the other being Richard McCourt. From 14 October 2007 to Septe ...

("Dick & Dom"), prior to featuring in the BAFTA and

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

award-winning

Dick & Dom in da Bungalow ''Dick & Dom in da Bungalow'' is a British children's television series presented by the duo Dick and Dom (Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood). The series was broadcast on weekend mornings on various BBC television channels for five series, runnin ...

. Between 2002 and 2006, Chapman played numerous characters alongside other Bungalow regulars

Ian Kirkby Ian Kirkby is a British actor and writer. He is best known for his role as DI Harry Batt on the children's programme ''Dick and Dom in da Bungalow'' ''Diddy TV' Sandy Swashbuckle (TV series), Swashbuckle. Career In his early years, Kirkby bec ...

Melvin Odoom Melvin Odoom is a British radio DJ and television presenter. He is best known for presenting on BBC Radio 1 alongside Rickie Haywood-Williams and Charlie Hedges. Education Odoom attended the University of Bedfordshire and studied a Media Per ...

and Lee Barnett. Chapman's other characters include Scratch in

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

show ''

'', Vinnie the Ferret in CBBC's Xchange, Matt Lucas' Singing Potatoes in ''Shooting Stars'', Tiny the Giant Hamster in ''The Saturday Show'' and ''Tiny and Mr Duk's Huge Show'', Riff the dog in ''Carrie and David's Popshop'' and Windy the rat in ''

Space Pirates Space pirates are a type of stock character from space opera and soft science fiction. The archetype evolved from the air pirate trope popular from the turn of the century until the 1920s. By the 1930s, space pirates were recurring villains in ...

''. Chapman played bad

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

Peter Nokio in four series of ''

The Slammer ''The Slammer'' (also known as ''The Slammer Returns'' for its final two series) is a children's talent show sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One and CBBC from 22 September 2006 until 26 July 2014. Set in a fictional prison called HM Slammer, ...

'' and the villain Alan Draylon in ''

Harry Batt ''Harry Batt'' is a television pilot starring Ian Kirkby as the fictional "Geordie copper" DI Harry Batt. The article is about both the character and the show itself. ''Dick and Dom in da Bungalow'' Harry Batt first appeared on ''Dick and Dom i ...

'', both for CBBC. He has also appeared as himself on three episodes of ''

Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive ''Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive'' is a British television show, first aired on BBC Three in July 2006. Devised by Paul Duddridge, it concerns the making of a comedy panel game show called ''Annually Retentive'', themed around historical events, ...

'' and has guested on ''The Chris Evans Show'', ''

The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as Radio 1 Breakfast from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012 before transferring three years later on 21 ...

'' and Kiss Breakfast. His voice work includes The Mimic, Jamie's American Road Trip, Strictly:It takes Two, School of Silence and Casualty Revealed, and his commercial work includes voices for Sandisc, Cadburys, Sony, BBC3, The Times newspaper, Seat, and Citibank. In 2001, he wrote and co-directed the short film ''Dinner Money''. He also writes and performs live comedy in the double act ''Chapman and Crompton''. Chapman hosted the gameshow '' And Then You Die'' on

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

as the puppet character Barrie Stardust. He has also played over sixty characters including series villain The Beastmaster in the

sitcom

The Legend of Dick and Dom ''The Legend of Dick and Dom'' is a sitcom that stars Dick and Dom as two budding young princes who are on a quest to find the antidote to a terrible plague that consumed their kingdom Fyredor because Dick accidentally dropped the original c ...

. He has also hosted '' Undercover Dads!'' for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2010. Chapman played Dougie Colon, Eddie Watts, Dad and Josh in the

Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

and BBC co-production ''

That Puppet Game Show ''That Puppet Game Show'' is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between 10 August 2013 and 5 January 2014. The show was made by the BBC in conjunction with The Jim Henson Company and featured the Miskreant Puppets from ''Puppet Up ...

''. He also joined

Brian Henson Brian Henson (born November 3, 1963) is an American puppeteer, director, producer, voice actor and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company. He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson. Early life Henson was born on November 3, 1963, in New ...

on stage for Brian Henson's Evolution of Puppetry lectures at the 2013

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

and guested in the Henson Alternative improv show "

Puppet Up ''Puppet Up! – Uncensored'' is a Adult live puppet musical show produced by The Jim Henson Company combining puppetry and improvisational comedy created by Brian Henson and Groundlings performer Patrick Bristow. The show is advertised for "a ...

". He has also co-written a children's book with

Dick and Dom Dick and Dom (originally Richard and Dominic) are a British comedy double act consisting of the presenters Richard "Dick" McCourt and Dominic "Dom" Wood. They are primarily known for presenting 'the broom cupboard' presentation links on Childr ...

, which he illustrated. Entitled ''Dick and Dom's Slightly Naughty but Very Silly Words,'' it was published by

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

in the autumn of 2013. In June 2014, Chapman was one of the puppeteers performing

BB-8 BB-8 (or Beebee-Ate) is a droid character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He appeared in the three films of the sequel trilogy, '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' (2017), and '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywa ...

in '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' alongside Brian Herring and Matt Denton. He has since performed characters for ''

Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (or simply ''Rogue One'') is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by Luc ...

'', ''

The Last Jedi ''Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi'') is a 2017 American epic space opera film written and directed by Rian Johnson. Produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pict ...

'', and ''

The Rise of Skywalker ''Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker'') is a 2019 American epic space opera film produced, , and directed by J. J. Abrams. Produced by Lucasfilm and Abrams' production ...

'', (as

, BB-9E, performing and voicing Thamm, the Canto Bight croupier, and assistant

Yoda Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until ...

puppeteer with Damian Farrell and Colin Purves to

Frank Oz Frank Oz (born Frank Richard Oznowicz; May 25, 1944) is an American actor, puppeteer, and filmmaker. He began his career as a puppeteer, performing the Muppet characters of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle in ''The Muppet Show ...

). Chapman also served as lead performer for

Lady Proxima ''Solo: A Star Wars Story'' is a 2018 American space Western film centering on the ''Star Wars'' character Han Solo. Directed by Ron Howard, produced by Lucasfilm, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the second ''St ...

and

Rio Durant This incomplete list of characters from the '' Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt D ...

in '' Solo: A Star Wars Story''. He puppeteers Emperor skekSo, Gurjin, and Ordon in '' The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'' and The Fly in

Quentin Dupieux Quentin Dupieux (, born 14 April 1974), also known by his musical stage name Mr. Oizo (), is a French filmmaker, electronic musician, and DJ. Dupieux is credited with his legal name for his films, while the name "Mr. Oizo" is used for his musica ...

's French comedy ''

Mandibles In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

''. Chapman also performed and voiced B2EMO in '' Andor''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Dave Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English television presenters English male television actors English male voice actors English puppeteers