Born: November 23 1951, London, England, UK
The first little person to star on TV, The Wizard's David Rappaport plans to set the world on fire.
Source: People Weekly, Oct 6, 1986 v26 p53(2).
You can take the measure of David Rappaport, the engaging star of CBS's The
Wizard, by two stories he tells about himself. The first is set in his native
London 27 years ago when, as an 8-year-old with a musical bent, he used to
please his mother by playing the accordion in nursing homes. Then one day he
found himself in a ''home'' where several ''little people'' were institutionalized. ''There was nothing wrong with them,'' says Rappaport. ''They
weren't ill. They were there just because they were little. It had a
chilling effect on me. I've never forgotten it.''
The second story is more recent. Emerging from his L.A. apartment at 5:30 on
the morning after his new series premiered, on his way to another day's
shooting, he ran into a slightly sozzled young woman sitting on the curb. She
glanced at Rappaport, who has been 3 ft.11 in. tall since he was 8, and
squealed: ''You're the wizard!''
Never in his 35 years has anyone ever suggested that Rappaport would end like
the lost people of his first tale, shunted away because of their dwarfism.
Neither would anyone have predicted that his condition and talent combined
would one day lead him to be recognized by inebriated strangers on a foreign
street.
Reviews of The Wizard, in which Rappaport plays a jovial genius toy maker who
occasionally designs projects for the government, have been mixed; but almost
all have singled out the star as the show's one unalloyed treasure. Rappaport
intends to keep his profile high. ''As John Lennon said, 'The only thing you
can't hide is when you're crippled inside.' Well, I see a lot of
normal-looking people in Hollywood who are so crippled you wouldn't believe
it. If you don't give up, you can turn anything to your advantage. I'm much
more widely known than if I were six feet tall.''
The son of normal-size parents -- Mark, now deceased, was a teacher, and
Dinah, 64, a charity fund raiser -- David suffers from achondroplasia, a form
of dwarfism that allows the trunk to grow while stunting the arms and legs.
''It never stopped me from doing anything,'' says David. ''I suppose if I'd
wanted to play soccer, it would have gotten in the way. But it has never been
a problem.''
Besides the accordion, Rappaport took up the drums early and played
semiprofessionally while working for his psychology degree at the University
of Bristol. He also got his first taste of the theater, acting in a student
comedy review that eventually played professionally in London. Graduation was
followed by a 1975 marriage to his college girlfriend, Jane, who is of
conventional height and works as a midwife. A son, Joe, was born a year
later. In 1977, after working briefly as a schoolteacher, Rappaport quit to
devote himself full-time to a theatrical career. ''It was the worst possible
time to become an actor,'' he says. ''I had a wife and a kid. But it seemed
now or never, so I went with it.''
Since then he's made his mark on stage, TV and film, especially as a guide in
1981's Time Bandits. Rappaport was approached about playing R2D2 in the
original Star Wars. He refused, ''and it became well known in England that I
didn't do robots.''
It was while promoting a more flesh-and-blood role in a 1985 film, The Bride,
that Rappaport became popular in America. His poise on the talk-show circuit
led to breakfast meetings, guest shots on series and eventually to The Wizard,
the first show in TV history to star a dwarf. ''David will be the next Mr.
T,'' predicts his Wizard co-star, Doug (The Fall Guy) Barr, who plays the
hero's bodyguard. ''He has that kind of uniqueness. But what I like about him
most is that he can never block my light.''
Notwithstanding such quips, Barr and his wife are welcome visitors to
Rappaport's duplex apartment, where he currently entertains alone. He and
Jane were amicably divorced in December. ''She was always going off to deliver
babies while I was going off to act,'' says David. ''We had to make diary
appointments to see each other.'' Rappaport plays host on holidays to Joe, now
10, skateboard-struck and a bit taller than his father.
Driving a VW Rabbit that's equipped with extended pedals and cushioned seats,
Rappaport manages to lead an active social life. He's become something of a
club regular at celeb-rich Tramps and occasionally lunches with Rosanna
Arquette, whom he met backstage at a Sting concert. All in all, it's a life
not too different from that of any other actor with his own series. ''I know
there are people who look at me and immediately think 'handicapped,' '' says
Rappaport. ''But being small hasn't stopped me from doing anything I've ever
wanted to do. The only problem I have is with elevator buttons.''
-- End --
THE WIZARD: EPISODE GUIDE
Aired from: Sep 1986 -- Mar 1987
"El Dorado" 9/9/86
Died: May 2, 1990, Laurel Canyon Park, San Fernando Valley (apparent suicide)
Author: David Van Biema and Mary Ann Norbom
Full Text COPYRIGHT Time Inc. 1986
Simon McKay is a tiny toymaker whose ingenious inventions come in handy on special assignments for the government. Simon eludes evil kidnappers to help a dying boy locate his brother, an archeologist missing in South America.
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"Reunion" 9/16/86
Simon goes to help an old friend in trouble in Hong Kong and confronts an embittered old enemy who blames Simon for his radiation poisoning.
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"Haunting Memories" 9/23/86
Alex and the pretty owner of a local toy store share some frightening ghostly manifestations at her store, and Simon tries to find out why.
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"Seeing is Believing" 9/30/86
Simon's prototype robotic guide dog for the blind is stolen by black market arms dealers anxious to convert it into a weapon for terrorism.
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"An Inside Job" 10/7/86
Simon's trust and home are infiltrated by a street boy employed by a hit squad to steal a prototype from Simon's laboratory.
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"Born to Run" 10/14/86
Simon comes to the aid of a jockey and his younger siblings who were counting on the purse from a big race to allow them to buy the home that could keep them all together.
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"The Other Side" 10/21/86
An American scientist is blackmailed by enemy agents holding his daughter captive.
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"Twist of Fate" 10/28/86
Simon seeks the help of his Tibetan mentor when he decides he must face his enemy Troyan again.
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"Nobody's Perfect" 11/8/86
A mobster steals an invention from an old friend of Simon's because he believes it will enable him to destroy evidence against him locked in an impregnable safe.
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"It Takes a Chimp" 11/15/86
Simon adopts a stray chimpanzee, unaware that the animal has been trained to retrieve a rare coin from an antique piggy bank he recently acquired.
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"Endangered Species" 12/16/86
Simon tries to identify a girl raised by wolves before someone can kill her.
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"Trouble in the Stars" 12/30/86
A young lonely genius thinks the message he recorded is communication with aliens from outer space but it's really terrorists planning a nuclear accident.
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"The Heart of a Dancer" 1/6/87
A dancer is shot while performing a routine with one of Simon's robots, and Simon knows she saw her assailant but she won't admit it.
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"Never Give Up" 1/20/87
An Indian boy seeks the Wizard's help when an outlaw gang takes over his town and forces his tribe to cultivate drugs for them.
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"Daydream Believer" 1/27/87
A boy possessed with a vivid imagination finds it difficult to convince anyone that his science teacher is actually a KGB agent.
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"Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" 2/3/87
Simon meets an orphan girl thought to suffer from multiple personalities, but decides that she is actually experiencing a psychic link with an unknown twin sister.
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"The Aztec Dagger" 2/19/87
Simon's former archaeology professor seeks his help in returning an Aztec dagger to the Temple of Sun in order to lift the curse that has blighted his life for the last twenty years.
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"Papa Simon" 3/5/87
A desperate teenage mother leaves her baby on Simon's doorstep when she and her husband are threatened by loan sharks they double crossed.
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"H.E.N.R.I. VIII" 3/17/87
A robot designed by Simon many years ago is believed to have killed a research scientist, and Simon thinks the key to proving his creation's innocence lies in a six hour gap in its memory.
