David John Bradley (born 17 April 1942) is an English actor. He is best known for his screen roles, which include Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series, Walder Frey in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones and Abraham Setrakian in the FX horror series The Strain.
A character actor, Bradley has notably acted in Our Friends in the North, the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and After Life. For Broadchurch, Bradley won the 2014 British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has made several appearances as the First Doctor in Doctor Who, having portrayed the role's originator, William Hartnell, in the TV biopic An Adventure in Space and Time. In 2021, he received an Annie Award for Best Voice Actor in a Television Series for his work as Merlin in Guillermo del Toro's animated Netflix series Tales of Arcadia.
An alumnus of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bradley is also an established stage actor, with a career that includes a Laurence Olivier Award for his role in a production of King Lear and appearing in the Harold Pinter play No Man's Land at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End.
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Early life and education
David Bradley was born on 17 April 1942 in York, where he attended the Catholic St George's Secondary Modern School, now All Saints Catholic School, and was a member of its choir. He first performed on stage in musical productions, as a member of a youth club and with the Rowntree Youth Theatre.
Upon leaving school, he completed a five-year apprenticeship with the optical instruments maker Cooke, Troughton & Simms and remained with the firm until 1966, when he moved to London to train as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Career
Bradley joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company in the early 1970s. He first appeared on television in 1971, as a police officer in the comedy Nearest and Dearest. He was awarded a Laurence Olivier Award in 1991 for his supporting role as the Fool in King Lear at the Royal National Theatre. He appeared in the Royal National Theatre's 1997 production of The Homecoming, as well as productions of The Caretaker at Sheffield Theatres and the Tricycle Theatre from 2006 to 2007. In 2005 he played the title role in Nicholas Hytner's production of Henry IV Parts One and Two at the Olivier Theatre, London.
Bradley played fictional Labour Member of Parliament Eddie Wells in the 1996 BBC Two serial Our Friends in the North. Also in 1996, he appeared as gangster Alf Black in Band of Gold. In 1998, he appeared in the BBC adaptation of Vanity Fair as the miserly Sir Pitt Crawley, and Our Mutual Friend as the villainous Rogue Riderhood. Other television appearances include the 2001 series The Way We Live Now, directed by David Yates, who would work with Bradley five years later on the Harry Potter films.
From 2002 to 2004, Bradley starred as Jake in the BBC comedy series Wild West. Bradley acted in the 2004 musical drama serial Blackpool on BBC One. He appeared in the 2005 BBC drama Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle, playing a morose coach-driver who takes an unruly party of pupils on a trip to Salisbury Cathedral, and the 2006 BBC drama Sweeney Todd. He had a small role in a 2006 episode of the series Taggart. In 2003, he played Tom in the Midsomer Murders episode "The Green Man". He appeared as the electrolarynx-using gangster Stemroach in the BBC comedy series Ideal and as Electric in the BBC's Thieves Like Us, as well as the BBC One series True Dare Kiss in 2007–08.
Bradley appeared in the 2002 film Nicholas Nickleby which was based on The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, and had a small role in the 2007 comedy film Hot Fuzz as a farmer who illegally hoards weapons. He played Cohen the Barbarian in a Sky One adaptation of The Colour of Magic in 2008. That same year he appeared as Spooner in a production of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, which later transferred to London's West End.
In 2009, Bradley appeared in Ashes to Ashes, playing an animal rights activist, and in The Street, both on BBC. Bradley portrayed Will Somers, Henry VIII's court fool, in an episode of the Showtime series The Tudors in 2009. In 2010, he appeared in the film Another Year, which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the London Film Critics Circle Awards. From 2011 to 2017, Bradley appeared as the villainous Lord Walder Frey in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Personal life
Bradley married his wife Rosanna in 1978. They have three children. His eldest son, George, is an architect, who has featured on the ITV series Love Your Home and Garden alongside Alan Titchmarsh. His daughter, Francesca, works in casting, having worked on Michael Bay's 6 Underground. He has said that it was his children who turned his attention to the Harry Potter film franchise and coached him for the role of Argus Filch.
Bradley is the president of Second Thoughts Drama Group, which performs in and around Stratford-upon-Avon. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Warwick (17 July 2012) and York St John University (19 November 2015).
He is a fan of football clubs Aston Villa and York City. On 22 November 2014, he took part in a video paying tribute to Aston Villa on their 140th birthday.