David Whorf(1934-2020)

Starting in the film industry as a child actor, Whorf first appeared in the film On Our Merry Way (1948) in 1946 with an all-star cast including Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Paulette Goddard, Fred MacMurray and Burgess Meredith. Summer Stock in New England at Marblehead, Ma. and Westport, Ct. punctuated his summers while attending Stanford University where he majored in Theatre Arts and Fine Arts. In 1953 Mr. Whorf was an apprentice at the Country Playhouse, Marblehead, Massachusetts. This was followed a few years later with a season at the Westport Country Playhouse. A theatre his father had played many years earlier. After a tour in the Army, he returned to film making, appearing in over fifty television shows and six feature films including a feature role in PT 109 (1963), the story of John Kennedy's experience in the South Pacific during the Second World War. In 1961 he appeared with his father, Richard Whorf, in a pre-Broadway show "One for the Dame". At this time, it was only the second time in recent Broadway history that father and son played father and son on stage. The show "closed out of town" due to financial problems after playing Ford's Theatre in Baltimore and at the Copley Theatre in Boston. In 1964 he wrote, produced and directed a short subject "Another Way Home" which received "Honorable Mention" at the Cork Ireland Film Festival. Mr. Whorf spent two seasons in repertory theatre at Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado. Of the sixteen plays in which he appeared, he received accolades for "Dark at the Top of the Stairs", "Five Finger Exercise" and "Little Mary Sunshine". In 1958 he became a member of the Director's Guild of America. As a first assistant director with director Larry Peerce, Mr Whorf worked on the Emmy Award winning mini-series "Woman Named Jackie, A" (1991)(mini)_ filmed entirely in the Richmond Virginia area. Other credits include the wacky "Caddyshack" and as Unit Manager on The Right Stuff (1983). Mr. Whorf continues to work actively in the film industry in a multitude of capacities from Director to Unit Manager and Assistant Director. He has written three feature scripts; "Deadly Intent" has been optioned by a production company. In 1980, Mr. Whorf recognized the impact computers were to have on the film industry. He formed a software company with Rob Alger, Alnitak Computing Company, and created the first film production software package, "AD/80".