David Tennant is a Scottish actor and voice actor who has appeared both on screen and on stage. He decided very early to become an actor and the idea grew and matured with him resulting in his not ever wanting to do anything else. He gained prominence by portraying the tenth Doctor in the Doctor Who (2005) series and has performed many starring roles including Touchstone in As You Like It, and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.
David Tennant Biography
The fave actor was born as David John McDonald on April 18, 1971, in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, and is of Scottish and Ulster-Scots descent. David got interested in acting at the very tender age of 3 or 4 when he would watch the TV and desired to tell wonderful stories like the people on the telly. When he later learned from his parents that those people that tell stories are actually doing their job and getting paid for it, he decided to also join the league of storytellers, inspired by his love of Doctor Who (1963).
He attended Ralston Primary and Paisley Grammar School, and was a faithful fan of the Doctor Who series, especially during the Tom Baker and Peter Davidson eras. David revealed his desire to become a professional actor and play the Doctor in his favorite series in the essays he wrote in school. His dream would become a reality when he was cast as the Tenth Doctor by Russell T. Davies. He became the second of three Scottish actors to play the role of the Doctor after Sylvester McCoy and before Peter Capaldi.
Acting Career
David started acting while still in primary school and continued into secondary school. He had his first stage performance at 11 when a Scottish actress, Edith MacArthur spotted his acting prowess at such a young age and told his parents that they have a successful stage actor in the pipeline.
Unwavering in his decision to become a professional actor, he attended theatre group classes on Saturdays by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) – now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). Unfazed by the many better talents David made his professional Tv debut while he was 16 in an anti-smoking film made by the Glasgow Health Board and screened in schools.
The young actor auditioned for a place at the Academy and won, at only 16, making him the youngest student to ever do so. He was there between the ages of 17 and 20. At this stage, he took up the name, David Tennant in order to join the actors’ union, Equity because there was already a registered member with his real name. The name was inspired by an interview he read, with Pet Shop Boys frontman, Neil Tennant.
He would later change his name legally to David Tennant, to meet the rules of the Screen Actors’ Guild of America (which is that one’s stage name must be the same as one’s legal name). And today, we know him by his stage name.
After he left the Drama Academy, he became a regular feature in theatre and TV. He became a part of the agitprop 7:84 Theatre Company and performed in a few plays. One of them was in the staging of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. David also appeared in a number of plays at the Dundee Repertory Theatre in the 1990s.
Television Appearances
Following his appearance in the Scottish TV sitcom Rab C Nesbitt as a transsexual barmaid, Davina, he had his breakthrough in TV in the Scottish drama, Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994). There, he played the lead role as the manic-depressive Campbell. He met comic writer and actress Arabella Weir while filming and would lodge with her for five years when he moved to London.
While in London, his career progressed and he appeared with Weir in many productions including as a guest in her spoof television series Posh Posh, in the Doctor Who audio drama Exile (during which Weir played an alternate version of the Doctor).
In 1996, he played the role of a drunken undergraduate in Jude with Christopher Eccleston. He has also played a few roles in his native Scottish accent which includes his appearance in the first episode of Reeves and Mortimer’s revamped Randall and Hopkirk in 2000 where he played an eccentric artist and in an episode of Doctor Who, Tooth and Claw.
He became more famous on TV in 2004 and 2005 following his appearances in a lead role in Blackpool (2004), and Cassanova (2005). 2005 was also the year his childhood dream of playing the Doctor became a reality. After Christopher Eccleston left the series, David was cast to play the role. That singular feat made him a household name and the people’s favorite that even after he left the series in 2010, his career continued to spike.
The tenth Doctor has also appeared in the films. He was in Bright Young Things (2003) and portrayed Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that same year.
Royal Shakespeare Company
In addition to his various casts, he spent several years as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His first role was as the jester, Touchstone in As You Like It (1996). Subsequently, he specialized in comic roles and portrayed Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors and Captain Jack Absolute in The Rivals. Deviating from comics, he played the role of Romeo in the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
Several audio dramatizations of Shakespeare have enjoyed his contributions in his natural accent. In the Arkangel Shakespeare series (1998), he played numerous roles which include Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice, Edgar/Poor Tom in King Lear, and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet
David Tennant Family, Wife, Children
The actor extraordinaire was born to Alexander ‘Sandy’ McDonald, a retired Presbyterian minister who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and mother, Essdale Helen McLeod. He grew up with his siblings, Blair and Karen in Ralston, Renfrewshire.
His mother was born in 1940 and died of cancer in July 2007. Her death inspired his involvement as a celebrity supporter of the Association for International Cancer Research. Sandy was born in 1937 and died in 2016.
David was not only affiliated with the Doctor Who series by his incarnation as the tenth doctor, but he is also the son-in-law of his favorite Doctor, the fifth, Peter Davidson.
He met Davidson’s daughter, actress Georgia Moffett on the set of Doctor Who (2005) in November 2007. They were reportedly engaged in January 2011 and moved in together. On 30 December 2011, the duo exchanged a marital vow.
The union has expanded by 4 children. Their first child, a daughter named Olive was born on 29 March 2011. He adopted his wife’s son, Tyler, in 2011. Their second child together, a son named Wilfred came on 3 May 2013. His fourth child, a girl named Doris, was born in 2015.
David Tennant Net Worth
David has witnessed tremendous success in his career and also has gained wide acclamations for his brilliant portrayal of his characters. Through his acting career, he has amassed a net worth of $7 million.
