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David Hurst
David Hurst in Kelly's Heroes 1970
Born	Heinrich Theodor Hirsch 8 May 1926 Berlin, Germany
Died	15 September 2019(2019-09-15) (aged 93) Berlin, Germany
Occupation(s)	Actor, theatre producer
Years active	1948–2000

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.

Biography

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 pogroms 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.

United States

In 1957, Hurst moved to the United States. He spent most of his time in California, but often performed on Broadway. 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 Mission: Impossible, Serpico and Star Trek.

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

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. 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.

Appearances

Theatre

Films

Television

References

1. "OBIES 1963–1964". The Village Voice. 28 May 1964. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
2. David Hurst & George Tabori at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection, 1956–1969 Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Die Tafelrunde trauert um David Hurst". Star Trek Tafelrunde "Hermann Darnell" (in German). 16 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
4. "David Hurst verstorben". 17 September 2019.
5. "Lortel Archives – The Internet Off-Broadway Database". lortel.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2011.

External links

• David Hurst at IMDb
• David Hurst at the Internet Broadway Database
• David Hurst at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• David Hurst at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection

• 1926 births
• 2019 deaths
• Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
• German male stage actors
• German male film actors
• German male television actors
• Jewish British male actors
• Jewish German male actors
• 20th-century German male actors
• Kindertransport refugees
• Male actors from Berlin
• German emigrants to Northern Ireland
• Emigrants from Northern Ireland to the United States
• Male stage actors from Northern Ireland
• Male film actors from Northern Ireland
• Male television actors from Northern Ireland
• British Army personnel of World War II