David Schaal (actor)


David Schaal is an English-American actor, director, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Taffy in the British sitcom The Office and Terry Cartwright in The Inbetweeners.

Early life

Schaal was born on 27 May 1963 on an air force base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of a Dutch-American father and English mother. The family relocated to England when Schaal was young and he grew up in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. He studied Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford College.

Career

Schaal's television credits include Missing, Casualty, The Wrong Door, Beautiful People, Hancock and Joan, Ashes To Ashes, The IT Crowd, Deceit, Doc Martin, Peak Practice, Silent Witness, Hustle, Lead Balloon,Dangerfield, and had a cameo in the 2005 Series of The Basil Brush show
His film credits include Kidulthood, Mr. Nobody, Clubbed, and Dirty Weekend. In 2008, he provided the voice for Mad-Dog "The Strangler" McGraw in the action role-playing video game Fable II.
Schaal has also appeared as Norm, Shirley Carter's seedy landlord, in EastEnders. He played troubled father Tom Hargreaves in Grange Hill. Other notable credits include The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, Relative Values, and football hooligan film I.D. Schaal also played Eric in British gangster film Down Terrace.
Schaal wrote the short films Poppy's Present and Half Time. He also co-wrote the play Reality Chokes and appeared in it as Rob, and directed a production of the play at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010. Other writing credits include the plays Shame, No Hiding Place, The Legacy of Colonel Ash, and Baby Blue’’.
In 2012, Schaal wrote and directed the play Brotherly Love for The Real London Ensemble starring Eva Gray.
Schaal appeared in British soap Hollyoaks in September 2013, playing the role of Ken, who is falsely accused of sexually interfering with Robbie Roscoe.