DAVID RAINEY
Biography
DAVID RAINEY has been an Alley Theatre Resident Company Member since 2000, performing in more than 80 productions. Nationally, he has performed for Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Hartford Stage Company, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the National Actors Theatre, the Guthrie Theatre, Joseph Papp Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Resident Ensemble Players, The Acting Company, New York Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Ford’s Theatre, Asolo Theatre Company, Shakespeare Festival LA, Crossroads Theatre Company, Houston Shakespeare Festival, A.D. Players, Stark Naked Theatre Company, among others. He has also performed with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Symphony, and Mercury Chamber Orchestra. His film and television credits include Law & Order, Cosby, Vengeance Unlimited, As the World Turns, One Life to Live, Hell Swarm, Starforce, Lowball, Multifacial, The 'M' Word, North Starr, Brushing Death and Don’t Go There. He was the founder and Executive Artistic Director of The Landing Theatre Company from 2010-2021. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he received the Drama Division’s highest honor, the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize. In 2004 he was named “Best Actor” by the Houston Press for the role of Lincoln in Top Dog/Underdog at the Alley Theatre and received “Best Actor” nominations from Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson (JEFF) Awards and the Black Theatre Alliance Awards for his performance in Top Dog/Underdog at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. In 2009 he was awarded “Best Supporting Actor in a Play” by the Houston Area Theatre Awards for Excellence, for the role of Sterling in Mauritius at the Alley Theatre. In 2017 he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the Houston Press Theatre Awards for Falstaff in “Henry IV, Pt. 1” at HSF. As a directed he received Houston Press Best Director Nomination for Theresa Rebeck’s Our House (Black Lab Theatre), and Houston Press Best Play/Production Nomination for Suzan-Lori Parks’ In The Blood (Back Porch Player:). In 2012 he was also named one of Houston’s 100 Top Creative’s. In addition to his roles as actor and director, he coaches actors year-round.