David Stephen Rappaport (23 November 1951 – 2 May 1990) was an English actor with

achondroplasia Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance whose primary feature is dwarfism. In those with the condition, the arms and legs are short, while the torso is typically of normal length. Those affected ha ...

. He appeared in the films ''

Time Bandits ''Time Bandits'' is a 1981 British fantasy adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan and ...

'' and '' The Bride'', and television series ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'', ''

The Wizard Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to: * Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic * Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book supe ...

'' and ''

Captain Planet and the Planeteers ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Cas ...

''. He was 3' 11" (1.19 m) in height.

Early life

Rappaport was born to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

taxi driver Mark and his wife Diana, née Schneiderman in London. He was born with

, a common form of

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

. As a child, he developed talents in playing the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and drums, the latter of which he played professionally during his life. Rappaport studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

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 Frestonia was the name adopted by the residents of Freston Road, London, when they attempted to secede from the United Kingdom in 1977 to form the Free and Independent Republic of Frestonia. The residents were squatters, many of whom eventual ...

, acting as

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

under the name David Rappaport-Bramley – all inhabitants adopted the surname 'Bramley', so that if the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

were to succeed in an eviction, they would have to rehouse them as one family.

Career

David Rappaport first came to public notice in children's television, appearing alongside

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...

as an O-Man in the 1979 BBC children's series ''

Jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces Arts and media Comics * Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...

''. Rappaport and McCoy had previously appeared together in ''Illuminatus!'' at the Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool (founded by

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1 ...

and

Chris Langham Christopher Langham (born 14 April 1949) is an English writer, actor, and comedian. He is known for playing the cabinet minister Hugh Abbot in the BBC sitcom '' The Thick of It'', and as presenter Roy Mallard in '' People Like Us'', first on B ...

in 1976). The two men 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...". He appeared in some season one sketches of ''

Not the nine o'clock news ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-curren ...

''. In the early 1980s Rappaport played the character of "Shades" on the anarchic Saturday morning kids TV shows ''

Tiswas ''Tiswas'' (; an acronym of "Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile") was a British children's television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982, and was produced for the ITV network by ATV. It was c ...

'' and '' The Saturday Show''. One of Rappaport's most popular roles was as Randall, the leader of the gang of dwarves in the

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...

film ''

'' in 1981. During the mid-80s, Rappaport played in the HTV production of ''

Robin of Sherwood ''Robin of Sherwood'' is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In the ...

'' (released as ''Robin Hood'' in the US) with

Jason Connery Jason Joseph Connery (born 11 January 1963) is a British actor and director. He is the son of Sean Connery and Diane Cilento. On screen, he is best known for appearing in the third series of the ITV drama series ''Robin of Sherwood'' in 1986. He ...

as Robin. The show was filmed in Bristol, where Rappaport had a home. During this time, he also made himself at home aboard

Ki Longfellow-Stanshall Ki Longfellow (born Baby Kelly, formerly Pamela Kelly; December 9, 1944 - June 12, 2022) was an American novelist, playwright, theatrical producer, theater director and entrepreneur with dual citizenship in Britain. She is best known in the Un ...

and

Vivian Stanshall Vivian Stanshall (born Victor Anthony Stanshall; 21 March 1943 – 5 March 1995) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his exploration of the British upper ...

's ship moored in the Bristol docks, the Old Profanity Showboat where he often appeared on stage. Rappaport appeared in 1985's '' The Bride'' as a circus dwarf who befriends

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

(played by

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

). In 1986, Rappaport appeared on the 1985-1987

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

TV Series

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

in an episode called " Gather Ye Acorns" (starring

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

fame). From 1986 to 1987, Rappaport played the lead role of Simon McKay in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television series ''

''. Rappaport also made guest appearances on such shows as ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...

'', '' The Young Ones'', and ''

''. In LA Law, Rappaport played crack trial lawyer Hamilton Schuyler from Texas, in two episodes. Both episodes were significant roles, opposing Jimmy Smits. The second of these, The Mouse that Roared, was filmed only 6 months prior to his death. Rappaport was the voice of

Dr. Blight ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Cas ...

's computer, MAL, on ''

''; he was replaced by

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

after his first four appearances due to his passing 4 months before the series aired. He also played Mr. Belvedere's cousin on an episode of ''

Mr. Belvedere ''Mr. Belvedere'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, to July 8, 1990. The series is based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel ''Belvedere'', which was later ...

'' entitled "Duel" Season 5 Episode 6.

Final years, death and legacy

In 1987, Rappaport was

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

at the wedding of

Hazel O'Connor Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''. Care ...

and artist Kurt Bippert, which took place on

Venice Beach, California Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. Rappaport struggled with depression later in his life. Just before his death, he had been cast and began filming for the role of Kivas Fajo in the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "

The Most Toys "The Most Toys" is the 22nd episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and the 70th episode of the series overall. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventure ...

". During filming, Rappaport attempted suicide, and the scenes he had completed were later discarded when actor

Saul Rubinek Saul Hersh Rubinek (born July 2, 1948) is a German-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright. He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on '' Warehouse 13,'' Donny Douglas on ''Frasier'', Lon Cohen on ''A N ...

was hurriedly brought in by producers to replace him and complete the episode. The scenes of Rappaport as Kivas Fajo were included on the Season 3

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

release of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''. On 2 May 1990, he took his own life by shooting himself in the chest in Laurel Canyon Park in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

in California. Two of the creators of the US television series ''

'',

Michael Berk Michael Berk is an American television screenwriter. He worked with Douglas Schwartz as a writer on the television series '' Manimal'', and many made-for-television movies. He wrote the earlier scripts of the series ''Baywatch'', and is also kn ...

and

Douglas Schwartz Douglas Schwartz is an American television screenwriter and series creator who, along with Michael Berk, worked as a writer on the television series '' Manimal'', and multiple made for television movies. He is most famous for creating co-produci ...

, went on to produce the lifeguard drama ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...

''. In this show's fifth season is an episode entitled "Short Sighted" which originally aired on 31 October 1994. Part of this episode concerns junior lifeguard Carter McKay (Nicholas Banko), whose father Simon McKay (Ed Gale) is a namesake tribute to Rappaport's character on ''The Wizard''.Summary of ''Baywatch'' episode "Short Sighted"
at TV.com

On stage

* ''Sleep Fast, They've Landed (Everybody Wants a Frozen Donkey for Christmas)'' (1971-1972) – Yellow * ''Stonehenge Follies'' * ''Illuminatus!'' (1975–1977) – Markoff Chaney * ''Portland Bill Street Theatre'' * ''The Immortalist'' - Reporter/Interviewer * ''Interplay'' * ''Volpone'' (1977) – Nano * ''The Warp'' * ''Little Brother Is Watching You (Small Is Beautiful)'' (1979) – himself * ''Secret Policeman's Ball 1979'' – as member of Ken Campbell Road Show * ''Dr. Faustus'' (1980) – Beelzebub, Dick, Pope Adrian, and other characters * ''Cinderella'' (1980) * ''Exit The King'' (1983) – The Doctor * ''Lulu'' (1985) – Schigolch

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Rappaport at shortsupport.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappaport, David 1951 births 1990 deaths Actors with dwarfism Alumni of Bretton Hall College Alumni of the University of Bristol English expatriates in the United States Jewish English male actors Schoolteachers from London Squatters Micronational leaders Suicides by firearm in California Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors English drummers 1990 suicides