Quick Facts
Biography
David Bedella (born September 25, 1962) is an American TV and musical stage actor, perhaps best known for his Olivier Award-winning role in the controversial Jerry Springer - The Opera. With a baritone voice he can successfully hit notes well into the bass, tenor and the countertenor range.
Life and career
Bedella was born in Chicago, Illinois. Having graduated from Merrillville High School in Merrillville, Indiana he had roles in Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley from 1992 to 1995, where he played Caiaphas, in 2000 HMS Pinafore and Brutus in a 2002 productions of Oh What A Night With Luke B.
Bedella then won his most famous role in Jerry Springer - The Opera, where he played both the Warm Up Man "Jonathan Wierus"(in the First Act) named after the 15th century occultist Johann Weyer and Satan in the Second Act. For this role, Bedella received the 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Bedella then appeared a recurring role as the plastic surgeon Dr. Carlos Fashola in 2004 in the British hospital drama Holby City. He then went on to play the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and had a 16-month run playing Frank N Furter in the 2006/2007 UK tour of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show.
Bedella has also had minor roles in a number of movies, including Batman Begins, Red Light Runners and Alexander.
In 2008 he played the role of Alexander Molokov in a concert version of Chess at the Royal Albert Hall on May 12–13, 2008, and performed in the West End gala performance of Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens at Soho Revue Bar.
Since 2009, Bedella has provided voices of some characters in the UK and US narrations of Thomas and Friends such as Carlos, Victor, The Mayor of Sodor, and A Cuban Man. In 2012, Bedella replaced fellow cast member Matt Wilkinson as Victor in the UK narration in Blue Mountain Mystery, though Wilkinson remains a cast member of the CGI series, respectively. In 2015 he replaced fellow cast member Keith Wickham as the Mayor of Sodor in the UK narration starting with season 19, and like Wilkinson, Wickham still provides voices for the show.
In 2009/2010 he reprised his role as Frank N. Furter in the UK tour cast of The Rocky Horror Show.
In October 2011, he appeared in a concert of the new musical Soho Cinders at the Queen's Theatre, London.
In 2012, he played Arnold in Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London.
For the 2011/12 festive season, David made his panto debut as Blackheart, in Robinson Crusoe and The Caribbean Pirates at the New Theatre, Cardiff with Christopher Biggins, Paul Zerdin, Lucy Sinclair, Alexander Delemere, Stephanie Siadatan & Gary Jerry.
In 2013, he appeared in By Any Means, and in 2014, he starred as popstar Frankie Parsons in the Inside No. 9 episode "Last Gasp".
On 16 January 2015, it was confirmed that Bedella would be joining Mel Brooks' The Producers as Roger De Bris.
He reprised his role as Frank N Furter in the Rocky Horror Show in London, alongside the show's writer, Richard O'Brien.
In 2017 he recorded two songs for the album Wit & Whimsy - Songs by Alexander S. Bermange (one solo and one featuring all of the album's 23 artists), which reached No. 1 in the iTunes comedy album chart.
He is currently playing the role of Kevin Rosario in the Tony Award-winning In The Heights at the Kings Cross Theatre in London, for which he won an Olivier Award for best supporting actor.