David Leon

David Jeremy Leon
Born David Jeremy Leon
(1980-07-24) 24 July 1980
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 2004–present
Parents
  • Anthony N Leon (father)
  • Ann J Brown (mother)
Relatives Sarah Jacqueline Leon (sister)

David Jeremy Leon[1] (born 24 July 1980) is an English actor, director, writer and producer. As an actor, he is best known for appearing in photographer Rankin's directoral debut Lives of the Saints as Othello and Guy Ritchie's film RocknRolla. From 2011 to 2014, he co-starred with Brenda Blethyn in the ITV detective series Vera.[2] Leon has directed several short films Father, Man and Boy and Orthodox. He completed his first feature-length film, also called Orthodox, in 2015.

Early life

Leon was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, where his mother (Ann J Brown) was a secretary and his father (Anthony N Leon) worked in a power station.[3] He is Jewish on his father's side and describes himself as half-Jewish.[4] He briefly played for the Blackburn Rovers F.C..[3] He is a graduate of the National Youth Theatre. He was educated at Dame Allan's School.[5]

Career

Leon dropped out of drama school to shoot the film Alexander with Oliver Stone in Morocco.[2]

In 2006, he had a main role in the film These Foolish Things, which also starred Terence Stamp, Lauren Bacall, and Anjelica Huston. The film's lead actress was Zoe Tapper, who guest-starred in an episode of Cutting It.

In 2007 David played Billy the Kid in the BBC's mini series The Wild West. In 2010 he played Jesus in Mark Haddon's play Polar Bears at the Donmar Warehouse.

From 2011 to 2014, he played DS Joe Ashworth in the ITV detective series Vera alongside Brenda Blethyn.[6]

Orthodox, Leon's third short film as writer/director, was accepted into several international festivals including the 58th BFI London Film Festival. The feature-length version of Orthodox was completed in 2015.[7]

Filmography

Director

  • 2009: Father (short) (co-director with Marcus McSweeney)
  • 2010: Man and Boy (short) (co-director with Marcus McSweeney) - Best narrative short, Tribeca Film Festival[8]
  • 2012: Orthodox (short)
  • 2016: Orthodox (feature)
  • 2017: Vera

Producer

  • 2009: Father (short)
  • 2010: Man and Boy (short)
  • 2012: Orthodox (short)
  • 2016: Orthodox (feature)

Actor

  • 2004: Alexander as Hermolaous
  • 2004-2005: Cutting It as Troy Gillespie (TV series) - 12 episodes
  • 2005: Boy Eats Girl as Nathan
  • 2006: These Foolish Things as Robin Gardner
  • 2006: The Wild West as Billy the Kid (TV mini-series)
  • 2006: The Lives of the Saints as Othello
  • 2006: Strictly Confidential as Jeff (TV series) - 1 episode
  • 2007: Clapham Junction as Alfie Cartwright (TV one-off Drama)
  • 2008: Love Me Still as Freddie
  • 2008: RocknRolla as Malcolm
  • 2010: Coming Up as Dan (TV series) - 1 episode
  • 2011-2014: Vera as DS Joe Ashworth (TV series) - 16 episodes (Series 1-4)
  • 2012: The Glass House as Lajos
  • 2013: Walking with the Enemy
  • 2013: Grace and Danger as Cifaretto
  • 2014: The Refugees as Álex
  • 2017 'In The Dark' BBC TV Drama as Adam

Theatre

References

  1. ↑ Birth Certificate at General Register Office. Retrieved May 2014.
  2. 1 2 Carnevale, Rob. "Vera - David Leon interview". indieLondon. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  3. 1 2 Emine Saner (27 April 2011). "David Leon: A whole new ball game". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Stephen Applebaum (2 November 2015). "Fighting back to put antisemitism on the ropes". TheJC.com. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Vera actor David Leon teams up with Boardwalk Empire's Stephen Graham for debut feature". The Chronicle. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. ↑ Wonfor, Sam (3 April 2013). "TV star David Leon back home to flesh out impressive short film". The Journal (Newcastle). Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Kemp, Stuart (19 March 2013). "'Orthodox' Filmmaker David Leon Plans Feature Version Starring Stephen Graham". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Quinn, Ben (29 April 2011). "Tribeca film festival: British film about paedophile suspect among winners: New York festival honours Man and Boy but top awards go to Swedish and Israeli directors". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 27 December 2013.
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