Editing David Swift (actor) (section)

==Career==
Swift made his professional debut on stage after being appointed as an assistant stage manager at [[Dundee Repertory Theatre]] in 1963. He made his television debut in 1964 as Theo Clay in the soap opera ''[[Compact (TV series)|Compact]]''.<ref name=obit /> He appeared in many small-screen roles in the 1970s and 1980s, whilst in the theatre he appeared in the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]]'s 1978 production of ''[[Henry VI, Part 1]]'' at the [[Aldwych Theatre]], and won acclaim for his performance as [[Frank Doel]] in the [[Ambassadors Theatre (London)|Ambassadors Theatre]]'s 1981-2 production of ''[[84, Charing Cross Road]]''. In addition he played Montclair in the film of ''[[The Day of the Jackal (film)|The Day of the Jackal]]'' (1973).<ref name=obit /> Swift appeared as Dingley alongside [[Richard Beckinsale]] in the BBC situation comedy ''[[Bloomers (TV series)|Bloomers]]'' (1979) and also appeared in several episodes of ''[[Going Straight]]'' (1978), the sequel to ''[[Porridge (1974 TV series)|Porridge]]''. Prior to this he had made a guest appearance, again with Beckinsale, in the [[ITV Yorkshire|Yorkshire Television]] comedy ''[[Rising Damp]]'' in which he played a suicidal tenant in the episode "Good Samaritans". But it was the role of irascible newsreader Henry Davenport in the topical comedy ''[[Drop the Dead Donkey]]'', written by [[Andy Hamilton]] and [[Guy Jenkin]], for which Swift became best known. He also made occasional appearances as God in the [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] comedy ''[[Old Harry's Game]]'', also written by Hamilton.

Alongside his acting career, Swift had an active interest in the behind-the-scenes aspects of media production, running the sound recording and post-production businesses Preview 1 and Preview 2 in the 1960s, before co-founding and managing Tempest Films in 1969 along with film-makers [[Charles Denton (television and film producer)|Charles Denton]], [[Richard Marquand]], Paul Watson and [[John Pilger]]. The company also produced documentaries by actor-director [[Kenneth Griffith]].<ref name=obit>{{cite web |last=Hayward|first=Anthony|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/apr/18/david-swift-obituary |title=David Swift obituary|work=The Guardian|date=18 April 2016 |access-date=18 April 2016}}</ref>