David Bradley

David John Bradley (born 17 April 1942) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film franchise, though he is also an established stage actor with a career that includes a Laurence Olivier Award for his role in a production of King Lear. Other acting credits include the BBC series Our Friends in the North and Doctor Who, the HBO series Game of Thrones, the ITV series Broadchurch, and the films Hot Fuzz and Captain America: The First Avenger. --- Bradley was born in York, where he was a member of the Rowntree Youth Theatre. A short comedy film - It's a Mad, Mad World - made in 1977 by Patrick Olsen, a York-based puppeteer, stage designer, and filmmaker, featuring Bradley, can be seen on the Yorkshire Film Archive website. Bradley became an actor in 1971, performing at Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre. He first appeared on television that year, as a police officer in the successful comedy Nearest and Dearest. He was awarded a Laurence Olivier Award in 1991 for his supporting role in King Lear at the Royal National Theatre. He appeared in the Royal National Theatre's 1997 production of The Homecoming, as well as productions of The Caretaker at Sheffield Theatres and the Tricycle Theatre from 2006 to 2007. Bradley starred as Jake in the BBC comedy series Wild West. He played fictional Labour Member of Parliament Eddie Wells in the 1996 award-winning BBC Two serial Our Friends in the North. In 1996, he appeared as gangster Alf Black in Band Of Gold. In 1998, he appeared in the BBC adaptations of Vanity Fair as the miserly Sir Pitt Crawley, and Our Mutual Friend and the villainous Rogue Riderhood. Other television appearances include the 2001 series The Way We Live Now, directed by David Yates, who would work with Bradley five years later on the Harry Potter films. --- Bradley serves as the President of Second Thoughts Drama Group, which performs in and around Stratford-upon-Avon. He is an avid fan of Aston Villa and York City. On 17 July 2012, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from University of Warwick.