David McAlister(1951-2015)

Versatile actor David McAlister was born on 2 April 1951 in Worthing, East Sussex and made his stage debut aged twelve as one of the Von Trapp children in the original West End production of 'The Sound of Music' before going on to appear with Ingrid Bergman and Michael Redgrave in Turgenev's 'A Month in the Country'. On stage David's forte was the musical theatre, appearing in 'Company', 'Gertie and Noel' and, opposite Anita Dobson in a 2008 revival of 'Hello Dolly!' though he was best known for playing Daddy Warbucks in 'Annie', originally on the London stage in 2006 but also on national and international tours - to Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand - between 2009 and 2011. Television work included a six year stint as rapist Dennis Richardson in Channel 4 soap 'Hollyoaks' and a range of popular programmes from Harry Enfield's comedy sketch series to 'Brideshead Revisited' and 'Holby City' in addition to much voice-over work and a spell on the radio soap 'The Archers'. David McAlister died of cancer on 26 June 2015, leaving a son and a daughter.