David Schneider (born 22 May 1963) is an English actor, comedian, and director. His acting roles include the role of Tony Hayers, in the '' Alan Partridge'' franchise.

Early life

David Schneider was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England on 22 May 1963 to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. He was educated at the

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

, an

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

for boys in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, before going to Exeter College, Oxford, where he studied modern languages, and studied for a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in Yiddish Drama. During his time at university, Schneider performed a predominantly physical comedy act that contrasted with the trend towards

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

in live performance comedy in the 1980s. It was at this time that he met Armando Iannucci, who in 1991 recruited him for news-radio spoof '' On the Hour''. He is a fan of Arsenal F.C.

Career

He performed in the BBC Sketch show ''Up to Something'' (1990) with Shane Richie, Suzy Aitchison, Frances Dodge, & Lewis MacLeod (actor). Schneider performed in '' The Day Today'', the television spin-off from ''On the Hour'' and also appeared in the spin-offs '' Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge'' and '' I'm Alan Partridge'' where he played the fictional

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

commissioning editor, Tony Hayers. In 1994, he made an appearance on '' Mr. Bean'', in '' Back to School Mr. Bean'', as the judo teacher. In 1996, Schneider wrote ''The Eleventh Commandment'', a play for the Hampstead Theatre about a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

marrying a gentile. In the late 1990s he appeared in the topical satire '' The Saturday Night Armistice'' (subsequently retitled '' The Friday Night Armistice'') alongside Armando Iannucci and Peter Baynham. In 1997 and 2000, Schneider played the part of Bradley Wilson in the BBC sitcom '' The Peter Principle''. Schneider wrote the screenplay for the 2001 feature film '' All the Queen's Men'', directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and starring Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Izzard. Schneider has also performed in the BBC sitcom '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' and appeared on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

panel show '' The 99p Challenge''. He had small roles in several movies, including '' The Saint'', '' 28 Days Later'', '' A Knight's Tale'' and '' Mission: Impossible'', where he played the driver of the Eurotunnel train. In 2004, Schneider played Joseph Goebbels in the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

tongue-in-cheek comedy '' Churchill: The Hollywood Years''. Following this, in 2006 Schneider took his first lead role when he made '' Uncle Max'', a series of 13 dialogue-free shorts for CITV. They focus on slapstick humour, with Schneider saying he wanted to be "a human cartoon". In April 2008, he featured in an episode of '' Hotel Babylon'' as a magician, a character not dissimilar to Tony le Mesmer whom he played in an episode of ''Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge''. Schneider provides the voice of Blink for the CBBC series '' One Minute Wonders''. In 2008, he took part in BBC Three's '' Most Annoying People of 2008'', relaying his views about celebrities including Prince William, Mark Ronson and Peaches Geldof. In 2009, Schneider explored his

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

heritage with a 30-minute documentary for

, ''My Yiddisher Mother Tongue'', with contributors including family members, academics, Colin Powell and

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...

. He has written a play, called ''Making Stalin Laugh'', based on the slaughter of the Moscow State Jewish Theatre on the orders of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. He also directed a sitcom pilot in 2007 called ''Up Close and Personal'', set in the offices of a celebrity magazine and starring Raquel Cassidy. The pilot was subsequently rejected by ITV2. In 2011, he played Soggy Sid in '' Horrid Henry: The Movie'', and in 2012, appeared in ITV drama ''

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

'', series 3, as murder suspect and taxi driver Marcus Salter. His radio sitcom ''Births, Deaths and Marriages'', set in a register office and starring himself, premiered on

in May 2012. In 2014 he co-founded That Lot, a social media agency alongside writer David Levin and David Beresford. In 2018 they sold the company to the PR firm Weber Shandwick. Schneider appeared in the fifth episode of the second season in the TV show ''Plebs'' in 2014, portraying a slave auctioneer called Agorix. In 2017, Schneider wrote the screenplay of '' The Death of Stalin'' with Armando Iannucci.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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official website captured by archive.today in 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, David 1963 births Living people People educated at the City of London School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford English male judoka English people of Jewish descent English male comedians English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English television directors Male actors from London Jewish male comedians Jewish English comedians Comedians from London