Tinkham, David

Born in Exeter, Devon, he married a New Zealander and in private life was personnel manager of the New Zealand Dairy Board. 

He won national acclaim with his performance as Dr Tree when he co-starred with Davina Whitehouse in the Feltex award winning television thriller "An Awful Silence”. He has enjoyed a 25-year involvement with the theatre in New Zealand as actor, producer and author. He says he made his first appearance ever on stage at the age of six as “Cock Robin”, but some of his more recent roles have been as Cardinal Courtleigh in “Hadrian the Seventh”; General Fitzbuttress in “Halfway up the Tree” and Falstaff in “So Stout a Gentleman”, a specially devised pot-pourri of Shakespeare’s Falstaff.

This year (1973) he is directing “The Rivals” which will mark Wellington Repertory’s three hundredth major production.

One of his specialities is pantomime. He has written six full-scale pantos, directed five and appeared as the dame in 10. He has also combined writing, acting and directing in five revues in collaboration with Peter Harcourt. Davina Whitehouse was in three of them. 

A member of the executive of the Theatre Federation, David Tinkham was also directed and tutored at summer residential acting schools in various parts of New Zealand.

David Tinkham says “Nothing significant has happened since ‘An Awful Silence’,” but he continues his busy life in the theatre. In January, for instance, he produced a pantomime in' Nelson, in March he directed the New Zealand Summer School of Drama at “AraIhina” near Marton and he is currently playing the title! role in the highly successful Downstage (Wellington) production of “Uncle Vanya”, a Sunny Arney production with an unusual split season! extending from June to August.