David Morrissey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Morrissey
Morrissey in May 2015
Born	(1964-06-21) 21 June 1964 (age 60) Liverpool, England
Occupation	Actor filmmaker
Years active	1982–present
Spouse(s)	Esther Freud ​ ​ (m. 2006; separated 2020)​
Children	3

David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is a famous English actor and filmmaker. He has played many different characters in movies and TV shows. You might know him best as The Governor from the TV series The Walking Dead. He also played Gordon Brown in The Deal and Stephen Collins in State of Play.

Besides acting, David Morrissey also directs films and TV shows. He has worked on stage with important theatre groups like the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has won awards for his acting, including a Best Actor award from the Royal Television Society. In 2016, he received a special honorary degree from Edge Hill University.

Growing Up in Liverpool

David Mark Joseph Morrissey was born in Kensington, Liverpool, on 21 June 1964. His dad, Joe, was a cobbler (someone who fixes shoes), and his mom, Joan, worked for a company called Littlewoods. He has two older brothers, Tony and Paul, and an older sister, Karen.

As a child, David loved movies, TV, and musicals, especially those starring Gene Kelly. He decided he wanted to be an actor after watching the movie Kes on TV. At his primary school, a teacher named Miss Keller encouraged him. She cast him as the Scarecrow in a school play of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when he was 11.

His secondary school, De La Salle School, did not have drama classes. So, David joined the Everyman Youth Theatre on the advice of a cousin. At first, he was shy, but he soon started taking part. He even appeared in a play about the 1981 riots in Liverpool.

By the time he was 14, David was one of two young people who helped make decisions for the Everyman Theatre. He became friends with other future actors there, like Ian Hart and the McGann brothers, Mark, Stephen, and Paul. When he was 15, his father became very ill and passed away. After leaving school at 16, David moved to Wolverhampton to work with a theatre company, where he helped with sets and costumes.

David Morrissey's Acting Journey

Starting Out in the 1980s

In 1982, David auditioned for One Summer, a TV series about two boys from Liverpool who run away to Wales. He got the main role of Billy. After filming, he traveled to Kenya. When he returned, One Summer was on TV, and he started to be recognized in public.

David had planned to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. He was homesick at first, but his friend Paul McGann encouraged him to stay. David graduated from RADA in 1985.

After RADA, David performed in plays in Liverpool and with famous theatre companies like Cheek by Jowl and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). He spent two years with the RSC, playing roles like the Bastard in King John. He also performed at the Royal National Theatre, playing the main role in Peer Gynt in 1990.

His second TV role was in 1987, playing a chauffeur in Cause Célèbre. In 1990, he played a complex character in the film The Widowmaker. He also appeared as Theseus in The Storyteller and Little John in Robin Hood in 1991. After Robin Hood, he didn't get much acting work for a while. But then he was cast as a police officer in the BBC drama Clubland. He even performed while recovering from surgery to keep the part!

Busy in the 1990s

His role in The Widowmaker led to him playing many intense characters, often police officers or soldiers. He worked with screenwriter Peter Bowker on Out of the Blue. In 1994, he was in The Knock and Finney, where he learned to play the double bass.

David also starred in dramas by Tony Marchant. He played Michael Ride in Into the Fire (1996) and Shaun Southerns in Holding On (1997). His role as Shaun, a tax inspector, was one of his first "men in turmoil" characters and earned him an award nomination.

In 1998, he appeared in Our Mutual Friend and Hilary and Jackie. These roles were seen as his big breakthrough. He researched his character, Bradley Headstone, in Our Mutual Friend by focusing on how the character's social class affected his mental health. Critics praised his deep portrayal of the character.

In 1999, David returned to theatre for a play called Three Days of Rain. He took a break from stage acting for nine years after this to spend more time with his family. For his role as Pete in Some Voices (2000), he even spent time chopping vegetables in a restaurant kitchen to prepare! For Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), he researched the Hitler Youth to understand his character, Captain Weber.

Major Roles in the 2000s

In 2002, David returned to TV in Clocking Off, playing a factory worker who wants to adopt his nephew. He also played a journalist in Murder and a prison officer in Out of Control, for which he shadowed real prison officers. In 2003, he played a father dealing with a premature baby in This Little Life, researching with doctors to prepare.

One of his most important roles was as MP Stephen Collins in State of Play (2003). To prepare, he met with real politicians to understand their lives.

That same year, he played Gordon Brown, a famous British politician, in The Deal. This film was about a special agreement between Brown and Tony Blair. David couldn't talk to politicians for this role, so he spoke to journalists and read many books about Gordon Brown. He even dyed and permed his hair and gained weight to look more like him!

His acting in State of Play and The Deal earned him great praise. He was nominated for a British Academy Television Award and won a Royal Television Society award for The Deal.

After these serious roles, David wanted to do something funny. He reunited with Peter Bowker for the musical TV series Blackpool, where he played Ripley Holden, an arcade owner. He visited Blackpool to learn about the area and the people. He later played Ripley again in the sequel Viva Blackpool! in 2006.

He then starred in the Hollywood film Basic Instinct 2 (2006) with Sharon Stone. While the film didn't do well, David learned a lot from the experience. Right after, he filmed The Reaping (2007) in Louisiana with Hilary Swank. This was a demanding role, especially filming at night and a scene with computer-generated locusts.

In 2006, he filmed The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) in New Zealand. He also played Danny Brogan in Cape Wrath (2007), a series about a family in a witness protection program. The next year, he played Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility and Thomas Howard in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).

From late 2008 to early 2009, David returned to the theatre for the play In a Dark Dark House. He played Terry, a character who had been abused as a child. He researched this role by reading about how adults cope with such experiences.

In December 2008, he appeared in the Doctor Who Christmas special, "The Next Doctor", playing Jackson Lake. Many people thought he might be the next Doctor, but it turned out his character was a "decoy" for the real new Doctor, played by Matt Smith. David said he would love to return to Doctor Who if asked.

In 2009, David played a police detective in Red Riding and Bobby Dykins in the John Lennon movie Nowhere Boy. As a big fan of The Beatles, he loved being part of a film about Lennon's childhood.

David was very busy in 2010. He played Theunis Swanepoel in Mrs Mandela, a British Transport Police officer in Five Days, a Roman soldier in Centurion, a stalking victim in U Be Dead, and Colonel John Arbuthnot in Agatha Christie's Poirot. In 2011 and 2013, he was in The Field of Blood.

Recent Work in the 2010s and 2020s

Morrissey during a Macbeth intermission in June 2011

At the end of 2010, David took on a weekly TV role as police detective Tom Thorne in Thorne, a series based on Mark Billingham's novels. David had read one of the books and learned that the author wanted him to play Thorne. He met with Billingham and helped develop the series. He also spent time with real police officers to understand their jobs.

In 2011, David starred in South Riding and the crime film Blitz. In May 2011, he returned to the Everyman Theatre to play the main character in Macbeth. Critics praised his performance. He continued his Shakespearean roles, playing Northumberland in a BBC Two production of Richard II in 2012.

David joined the cast of The Walking Dead for its third season in 2012. He played The Governor, a major villain from the comic books the series is based on. He read a book about the character and worked with a coach to get the right accent. He returned for the fourth season in 2013 and made a brief appearance in 2015.

In 2014, David was in the TV dramas The 7.39 and The Driver. In 2016, he starred in the play Hangmen, playing a former hangman after hanging was stopped in Great Britain.

From 2018, David appeared as Mark Anthony in the play Julius Caesar. That year, he also starred as Inspector Tyador Borlú in the BBC2 drama The City and the City.

In 2022, he played the villain Gorka in the Italian horror-fantasy film Dampyr. He is also set to appear in the 2024 sci-fi film Slingshot.

David Morrissey as a Filmmaker

David Morrissey started learning about filmmaking in the early 1980s at a workshop where he made short silent films. He wanted to direct because he liked seeing a project through from start to finish, not just acting in it. He prefers to keep his acting and directing jobs separate.

His first directing project was a short film called A Secret Audience. His second short, Bring Me Your Love, was praised by critics. In 2001, David directed Sweet Revenge, a two-part BBC TV film, which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best New Director. In 2004, he directed Passer By, a two-part TV film about a man who sees an attack but doesn't stop it.

In 2007, David directed his first full-length film, Don't Worry About Me. It was filmed in Liverpool on a small budget and premiered at the London Film Festival in 2009. The film was shown on BBC Two in 2010.

In 2009, David and Mark Billingham started a production company called Sleepyhead, which produced the Thorne TV series.

Helping Others

In 2009, David Morrissey and other filmmakers held drama workshops for Palestinian refugee children in Beirut, working with the UNRWA. When he returned to England, he started a charity called the Creative Arts School Trust (CAST). This charity trains teachers and continues the workshops in Lebanon and other places.

David Morrissey also supports other charities. He is a patron (a supporter) of The SMA Trust, which funds research into spinal muscular atrophy. He also supports Liverpool's Unity Theatre and the human rights organization Reprieve.

David Morrissey's Family Life

David Morrissey met novelist Esther Freud through a friend. They dated for about 13 years before getting married on 12 August 2006. They have three children together, a daughter and two sons. They separated in 2020. They used to divide their time between homes in North London and Walberswick.

David is a lifelong fan of his hometown football team, Liverpool FC. He also supports the Labour Party in politics. In 2014, he was one of many public figures who signed a letter hoping that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in their independence vote.

Awards and Nominations

Images for kids

• David Morrissey in 2012.jpg

  Morrissey in 2012

See also

In Spanish: David Morrissey para niños