David Calderisi
David Calderisi is a Canadian actor with a career in both Canada and the United Kingdom.
Early life
Calderisi was born in Montreal and began performing as an actor at the age of eight in Our Lady of Fatima with the St. Genesius Players while as an altar boy at St. Aloysius Church. After appearing on and off with the group until age 12, he put any thoughts of a theatrical career aside. However, Calderisi was drawn back to acting in 1956 while studying engineering at McGill University after meeting a girl who was appearing in a production of My Fur Lady at the faculty. Joining the revue for its cross-Canada tour until it closed in Vancouver, Calderisi realised he wanted to be in theatre. In order to become a professional actor, he decided to get professional training.Career
After training as an actor in London from 1959 to 1962, Calderisi made appearances in iconic British TV shows including The Saint, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Baron, Doctor Who and The Protectors.At the same time, he collaborated with David Halliwell to revolutionize British theatre by bringing lunchtime performances to the masses. They formed the company Quipu, which from 1966 to 1976 operated at various venues including the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Calderisi has also acted and directed in theatres across the West End in productions such as The Experiment and The Theatre of Death written by Philip Martin. He was invited back to Montreal in 1967 to direct The Lower Depths, staged by students of the National Theatre School, staying for 10 weeks.
Returning properly to Canada in 1971, Calderisi had appearances in The Littlest Hobo, War of the Worlds, Due South, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Hannibal amongst others, as well as the recurring role of Barry Calvert in Earth: Final Conflict. Theatre work includes playing Frankenstein's monster on stage in Montreal as well as a one-man show performance of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by poet Edward FitzGerald.
As a teacher, Calderisi has taught and directed at Centre for Indigenous Theatre, National Theatre School of Canada and York University as well as colleges George Brown, Humber and Sheridan.