David Bailie

David Bailie (4 December 1937 – 5 March 2021) was a South African actor known for his performances on stage, television, and film. In the 1960s and 1970s, he worked for both the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he was an associate artist. He played "Dask" in the 1977 Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death and also appeared in Blake's 7.

Bailie portrayed "Skewer" in Cutthroat Island (1995), an English Judge in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), and also "The Engineer" in Gladiator (2000). Bailie was also a professional photographer, specialising in portrait photography. He had a studio in West Kensington, London. After leaving school he worked in a bank and then for Central African Airlines. In 1958, he made his first trip from Rhodesia to Britain.

Bailie died on 5 March 2021 at the age of 83.

Career In 1960, Bailie moved to Britain from South Africa, having been cast for a minor role in the film Flame in the Streets (1961). Subsequently, he played one of the bell boys in Arthur Kopit's Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1961) with Stella Adler playing Madame Rospettle. He then bluffed his way into weekly repertory in Barrow-in-Furness as a juvenile lead, though he was worried his inexperience would show.

Recognising the need for training, he auditioned three times for a bursary to the RADA, each time being accepted only as a fee-paying student, which he could not afford. He sent for the last of his standby money (£200), which he had left in Rhodesia, and paid for the first term (1963). At the end of the term, he persuaded John Fernald to allow him free tuition for the next two years.

Terry Hands was also a student at the same time, but had left earlier than Bailie and formed the Everyman Theatre with Peter James in Liverpool. Upon leaving RADA, Bailie was invited to join the Everyman in 1964. Amongst other roles, he played Tolen in The Knack..., Becket in Murder in the Cathedral, Dion in The Great God Brown, MacDuff in Macbeth and Lucky in Waiting for Godot.

During the early 1970s, Bailie worked with Stomu Yamashta at his Red Buddha Theatre. He was cast as the lead in a show called Raindog, which required him to sing, dance, perform martial arts and gymnastics. He later admitted that this job was too demanding for him. When Yamashta offered him a small sum for his performance, he departed the theatre. He was then cast by Michael E. Briant in 1976 to play the part of the villain "Dask" in the Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death.

Bailie then took a long hiatus from his acting career for personal reasons. Between 1980 and 1989, he ran a furniture-making business. In 1990, he closed down the furniture business and restarted his acting career. Around this time, Bailie developed cancer in his lip, necessitating its removal and forcing him to relearn how to speak. While awaiting work in the acting field, he busied himself with CAD design, self-training, writing computer programs, and also doing health and safety work in the building industry.

In the mid-1990s, after playing alongside Brian Glover in The Canterbury Tales, he made a comeback in the film business as "Skewer" in Cutthroat Island (1995), then played an English Judge in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), and also "The Engineer" in Gladiator (2000). His character did not say any lines in the three films. Bailie found this to be a problem and proposed to director Gore Verbinski and writer Terry Rossio a storyline that Cotton was able to speak, but it was not included in the films.

In 2014, Bailie joined the ensemble cast of the British-American short Artificio Conceal for the role of Vitruvius. The film, written and directed by Ayoub Qanir, was selected to film festivals worldwide, including the Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival.

Bailie reprised his Doctor Who role as Dask in the Kaldor City audio drama series. He was also involved in Big Finish Productions audio dramas playing the Celestial Toymaker.

Bailie also worked as a professional photographer, with portraiture and landscapes being his speciality.

He established a YouTube channel, mdebailes, where he uploaded readings and performance excerpts.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1961 Flame in the Streets Uncredited 1968 All's Well That Ends Well Morgan, a soldier TV film 1972 Henry VIII and His Six Wives Norris 1973 The Creeping Flesh Young Doctor Son of Dracula Chauffeur Wipers Three Lieutenant General Smuts TV film 1975 Legend of the Werewolf Boulon 1977 Golden Rendezvous Younger terrorist in car Uncredited 1979 The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of Henry Surnamed Hotspur Second Carrier TV film 1995 Cutthroat Island Dawg's Pirate 1999 The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc English Judge 2000 Gladiator Engineer 2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Cotton 2005 Starfly Commander / Doctor Short 2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Cotton 2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Eddie Proctor Eddie Proctor Short The Comebacks Prisoner 2009 Shadows in the Wind Mr. Behrman Short2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: Tales of the Code – Wedlocked Cotton Short Tribe Wentzelow 2013 Traveller 2014 October 1 Ackerman Artificio Conceal Vitruvius Short 2017 The Beyond Professor Jakob Brukiehm 2018 The House That Jack Built S.P. 2019 In the Trap Father Andrew 2020 Darbar Drug Overlord Uncredited

Television Year Title Role Notes 1966 Ransom for a Pretty Girl Colonel Caron Mini-series 1971 Student Episode: "Leave It to Me, Darling"1972 New porter Mini-series Adam Smith Reverend Douglas Black 2 episodes 1973 Commandant De Jong Episode: "Ambush" 1974 Play for Today Daniel Tasker Episode: "The Lonely Man's Lover"1975 Churchill's People Bertram Episode: "Silver Giant, Wooden Dwarf" Softly, Softly: Task Force Scooby Episode: "Whose Side Are You On?"Play of the Month Sergeant Davidson Episode: "The Little Minister" Marcade Episode: "Love's Labour's Lost" 1976 Plays for Britain Disc jockey Episode: "Hitting Town"1977 Warship Panmuir Episode: "Wind Song" Doctor Who Dask Serial: "The Robots of Death"1978 Blake's 7 Chevner Episode: "Project Avalon" Branigan Episode: "The Reverend's Daughter" 1997 Outlaw Mills Episode: "Outlaw Express" 2001 Attila the Hun Shaman Mini-series 2009 Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor Adventures The Celestial Toymaker Episode: "The Nightmare Fair" 2012 Sinbad Brother Angelico Episode: "Fiend or Friend?"