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{{short description|American actor}}
{{about|an American actor|other people named David Brooks|David Brooks (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Brooks
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|09|24}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|03|31|1915|09|24}}
| birth_place = [[Portland, Oregon]]
| death_place = [[Manhattan]], New York
| occupation = Actor, singer, director, producer
}}
'''David Brooks''' (September 24, 1915 – March 31, 1999) was an American actor, singer, [[Theatre director|director]], and [[Theatre producer|producer]] who first drew critical acclamation starring in several [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musicals during the 1940s, including portraying Tommy Albright in the original production of ''[[Brigadoon]]''.

In the early 1950s he was an important stage director in the avant-garde theatre scene of [[Milan]], Italy. He returned to the United States during the mid-1950s and worked principally as a stage director and producer for over a decade. He was instrumental in producing the United States premieres of a number of works by [[Eugène Ionesco]] and [[Samuel Beckett]], and remained active as an actor up until the 1980s.

==Biography==
Brooks was born in [[Portland, Oregon]], to Jewish parents and earned a [[Bachelor of Music]] degree from the [[University of Washington]], where he trained as a classical [[baritone]]. He won a scholarship to the [[Curtis Institute of Music]] in [[Philadelphia]], where he pursued graduate studies in opera. While a student at Curtis he began appearing in plays and musicals in Philadelphia which ultimately led to his being signed with a talent agent. He made his Broadway theatre debut in 1944 as Jeff Calhoun opposite [[Celeste Holm]] as Evalina in the original production of [[Harold Arlen]]'s ''[[Bloomer Girl]]''. The show was a big hit and effectively launched a major career for Brooks as a stage actor and later stage director and producer.<ref name="nyt">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/04/nyregion/david-brooks-83-lead-actor-in-brigadoon-on-broadway.html|title=David Brooks, 83, Lead Actor in 'Brigadoon' on Broadway|author=[[Jesse McKinley]]|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 4, 1999}}</ref> L.A. Times on October 11, 1944, headlined "Stage Singer Brooks Signed by Paramount." Scouts had seen him in "[[Bloomer Girl]]." Brooks ended up making just one film, in 1944, as a character named Angus McNab in the Paramount musical short "[[Bonnie Lassie]].”

He entered musical theater history on March 13, 1947, when he originated the role of Tommy Albright in the original Broadway production of [[Lerner and Loewe]]'s ''[[Brigadoon (musical)|Brigadoon]]'' at the [[Ziegfeld Theater]]. He performed the role 581 times before the production closed on July 31, 1948. After the production ended, Brooks moved to [[Milan]], Italy, where he worked as a director and producer of plays during the early 1950s. While there he became involved with the [[avant-garde]] theater scene, notably staging works by Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett.<ref name="nyt"/>

In 1954 Brooks returned to the United States to portray Tim Cavanaugh in [[Earl Robinson]] and [[Waldo Salt]]'s original musical ''[[Sandhog (musical)|Sandhog]]''. After the show closed in January 1955, Brooks helped found the theater production company [[Rooftop Productions]]. With the company he helped produce the U.S. premieres of Beckett's ''[[Endgame (play)|Endgame]]'', Ionesco's ''[[The Bald Soprano]]'' and [[James Joyce|Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses in Nighttown]]'', all [[Off-Broadway]]. He was also active as a director for Off-Broadway productions, and worked with [[Leonard Bernstein]] on his 1955 opera ''[[Trouble in Tahiti]]''.<ref name="nyt"/>

Brooks returned to Broadway in 1963 after an eight-year absence to portray Governor Harmon Bardahl in [[Irving Berlin]]'s ''[[Mr. President (musical)|Mr. President]]''. He was also the standby performer for President Stephen Decatur Henderson. He returned to Broadway a few more times during his career, portraying Grand Duke Charles in ''[[The Girl Who Came to Supper]]'' (standby, 1964), Jim in ''[[The Sunday Man]]'' (1964), the Man in ''[[Park (play)|Park]]'' (1970), and Judge Paul Barriere in the 1981 revival of ''[[Can-Can (musical)|Can-Can]]''. He also made a handful of television appearances.<ref name="nyt"/>

He died at the age of 83 at the Jewish Home and Hospital in [[Manhattan]]. He was survived by his longtime life partner Frances Kessler.<ref name="nyt"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{IMDb name|1470466|name=David Brooks}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, David}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male musical theatre actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Jewish American male actors]]
[[Category:Curtis Institute of Music alumni]]
[[Category:University of Washington School of Music alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]

David Brooks (actor) - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article