DAVID HUDDLESTON

Written by Michael Darvell
 

(17 September 1930 - 2 August 2016)

David Huddleston

American David Huddleston was a fine character actor, good in both comedy and dramatic roles. He was never a star with his name over the title, except perhaps on stage where he memorably played Benjamin Franklin in the musical 1776 in 1998 and 2003. He worked in films and on TV for some 55 years, beginning in television in 1960. Films he will be remembered for include Howard Hawks’ Rio Lobo (1970), Robert Benton’s Bad Company (1972), as Olson Johnson in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974), memorable for his “No Irish” gag, Peter Hyams’ Capricorn One (1977) and as the eponymous star of Santa Claus (1985) with Dudley Moore, for which he was perfect casting. He was also the title character in the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski (1998) and played the Judge in Mel Brooks’ musical remake of The Producers (2005). His last work was in a segment of the 2014 thriller Locker 13. With many other films and constant TV roles, David Huddleston was never out of work.

MICHAEL DARVELL

 
Michael Darvell

Michael Darvell trained as a librarian at Watford and in Surrey before joining Ealing Libraries where he became Music Librarian for the borough. He edited Masthead, the magazine of the University of North London School of Librarianship, The Surrealist, the staff magazine of Surrey County Library, and contributed to the Assistant Librarian and London Librarian professional journals. A freelance film reviewer since 1970, he has written for Film, Films Illustrated, Film Review, Movie Maker and Radio Times, as well as editing Montage, the London film societies magazine, for ten years. A change of career saw him joining What’s On in London as Features Editor and he eventually stepped into the shoes of the late F. Maurice Speed (founding father of Film Review annual) as the magazine’s Editor. From 2007 to 2015, he was co-editor of the Film Review annual with Mansel Stimpson. As well as writing about films, Michael has reviewed theatre for The Stage newspaper, and has written about music theatre and cabaret for the Classical Source and Musical Theatre Review websites. He is also a former restaurant critic for the ViewLondon website. Michael has been a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle since 2005.

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