David Schneider (born May 22, 1963 in London) is an English actor and comedian.
Schneider studied modern languages at the University of Oxford, and studied for a DPhil in Yiddish Drama. During his time at university, Schneider performed a predominantly physical comedy act that contrasted with the trend towards stand-up comedy in live performance comedy in the 1980s. It was at this time that he met Armando Iannucci, who in 1991 recruited him for news-radio spoof On The Hour.
He performed in The Day Today, a television show loosely based on On the Hour. He also appeared in the spin-offs Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge and I'm Alan Partridge where he played the fictional BBC Commissioning Editor, Tony Hayers, who was physically assaulted by Alan Partridge after the cancellation of Partridge's (fictional) show.
One of his most memorable film appearances was in Mission: Impossible, where he played the driver of the Eurotunnel train.
In 1996, Schneider wrote The Eleventh Commandment, a play for the Hampstead Theatre about a Jew marrying a gentile.
He appeared in the late 90s topical satire The Saturday Night Armistice (subsequently retitled The Friday Night Armistice) alongside Armando Iannucci and Peter Baynham.
Schneider has also performed in BBC sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme and appeared on BBC Radio 4 panel show The 99p Challenge. He also made a cameo appearance in an episode of Mr Bean ("Back to School, Mr Bean"), where he demonstrated his black belt judo skills. He has also had small roles in several movies, including the horror film 28 Days Later, A Knight's Tale and Mission: Impossible.
In 2006 Schneider took his first lead role when he made Uncle Max, a series of 13 dialogue-free shorts for CITV. They focus on slapstick humour, with Schneider saying he wanted to be "a human cartoon".
He is currently writing a play based on the slaughter of the Moscow State Jewish Theater on the orders of Joseph Stalin.
He is also directing a sitcom pilot called Up Close and Personal, set in the offices of a celebrity magazine.
