David Birney
David Edwin Birney ( born April 23, 1939 in Washington, DC ) is an American actor.
Life
Birney graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a Master of Arts in theater studies from. During the Vietnam War he was drafted into the United States Army, where he was assigned to a special unit for the entertainment of soldiers. After his discharge from military service he played mid-1960s, initially at the State Theatre of Virginia before moving to New York City and there appeared off-Broadway. In 1969, he had in The Miser his debut on Broadway, where he played until 1971 in various productions, including as Haemon in Antigone by Sophocles drama.
Since 1967 Birney had guest roles on several television series, in 1972 he received the lead role in the sitcom Bridget and Bernie next to Meredith Baxter, whom he married two years later. The show was canceled after one season with 24 episodes. In 1976 he played the role of the police officer Frank Serpico, which was shown in the original film by Al Pacino in the film based on the eponymous series Serpico. In the first season of Doctor series St. Elsewhere, he played Dr. Ben Samuels, left this, however, in favor of the main role in the series glitter, but this was discontinued after 14 episodes. As a result, he was mostly seen in guest roles.
From his 1990 marriage to divorced Meredith Baxter had three children.