David Hurst

 ( 1926 Births ) 

David Hurst (born Heinrich Theodor Hirsch; 8 May 1926 – 15 September 2019) was a German actor, best known for his role in the film Hello, Dolly as Rudolph the headwaiter.

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Biography

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Early life and career Hurst grew up in a family of actors. As a Jewish child living in 1930s Germany, he faced persecution from the Nazi regime. After the of Kristallnacht, the British government allowed for the rescue of Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig. He was one of the nearly 10,000 children in 1938–1939 moved with the Kindertransport to the United Kingdom. He was separated from his mother at 12 years old, and never saw her again.

Housed in a manor in Northern Ireland, he lived with other young emigrants in the care of the family of an estate manager. His first stage experience was in Belfast at a repertory theatre, where he also changed his name from Heinrich Hirsch to David Hurst. During the Second World War he joined the British army, but because of his German background he was assigned to Entertainments National Service Association, where he performed as an actor and a comedian.

His first film role was as Wolfgang Winkel in The Perfect Woman (1949), a role Hurst had previously played in the West End to critical praise. He went on to appear in many British films of the 1950s.

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United States In 1957, Hurst moved to the United States. He spent most of his time in California, but often performed on Broadway theatre. In 1960, he created the role of Merlyn in the original Broadway production of Camelot opposite Richard Burton.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he played in film, television and theatre. In 1959 he received the Clarence Derwent Award and in 1964, he was awarded the Obie Award from The Village Voice for his Off Broadway performance in A Month in the Country.

He performed in the film version of Hello, Dolly (1969) as Rudolph the headwaiter alongside Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau. This was his most notable role in America. He also had roles in the films Kelly's Heroes (1970) and The Boys From Brazil (1978). Hurst also appeared in numerous TV series including , Serpico and .

Throughout his career he worked as a visiting professor at Yale, Boston University and Carnegie Mellon.

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Return to Germany In the 1980s he appeared in several German-American co-productions, and visited his half-brother Wolfgang Heinz in East Berlin. Hurst decided to remain in Germany, and worked in Vienna and Berlin with a fellow erstwhile emigrant (and Actors Studio colleague), theatre director George Tabori. David Hurst & George Tabori at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection, 1956–1969 From 1991 Hurst worked at the Burgtheater, Vienna, eventually returning to live in Berlin in 2000, when he retired from acting. He died there on 15 September 2019 after suffering a stroke and pneumonia.

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Appearances

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Theatre

21 September – 17 October 1954

3 March – 4 April 1959

7 March – 10 April 1960 41 performances

3 December 1960 – 5 January 1963

November 1962

1963 – 1964 48 performances

5 – 29 August 1964 22 performances (New York Shakespeare Festival)

28 April – 28 May 1973

20 October 1977 – 6 January 1980

5 – 20 November 1988 20 performances

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Films

Uncredited

(archive footage)

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Television

Episode: "Snap Judgment"

Episode: "The Shepherd of Paris"

Episode: "A Tale of Two Cities"

2 Episodes: "Riddle of a Lady" and "Next Door to Death"

2 Episodes: "Tiger at the Gates" and "The Emperor's Clothes"

Episode: "The Dachet Diamonds"

Episode: "That's Show Business"

Episode: "Drink Like a Lady"

2 Episodes: "The Initiation" and "The Judgment"

Episode: "The Brain-Killer Affair"

Episode: "It Takes a Heap of Livin'"

Episode: "The Longleat Chronicles"

Episode: "The Mata Hari Affair"

Episode: "Anastasia"

Episode: "The Astrologer"

Episode: "The Many Deaths of Saint Christopher"

TV movie

Episode: "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair"

Episode: "When Boy Meets Girl"

Episode: "Monkees Race Again"

Episode: "A Fish Story"

Episode: "The Exchange"

Episode: "The Mark of Gideon"

Episode: "The Test Case"

Episode: "The Lottery"

Episode: "The Exile"

Episode: "The Traitor"

3 episodes

Episode: "The Wright Brothers"

Episode: "The Indian"

TV film broadcast 1979

Episode: "The Moscow Connection"

Episode: "Arnstein's Miracle"

TV film

Episode : "The Hipbone's Connected to the Thighbone"

Episode: "Dead and Alive"

Uncredited, 1 episode

Episode: "Angel in Hiding"

TV film, (final film role)

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External links

• David Hurst at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection

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