David Hayman (born 1950) is a Scottish film and television actor and director.
Hayman studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He began his acting career at the Citizens' Theatre in the city, playing a variety of roles, including Hamlet, Figaro and Al Capone. He gained national prominence playing notorious Barlinnie Prison convict turned sculptor, Jimmy Boyle, in the film A Sense of Freedom. After this film he focussed on playing character roles rather than the lead. His long list of film credits include appearances supporting Pierce Brosnan in The Tailor of Panama, Bruce Willis in The Jackal and Kevin Spacey in Ordinary Decent Criminal.
Hayman is also well known for his television appearances, most notably as Chief Supt. Michael Walker in Lynda La Plante's long running Trial & Retribution sequence of crime thriller mini-series which recently finished shooting its 10th series. He has also had success in directing film and TV productions. Silent Scream is a return to a study of convicts in Barlinnie Prison, examining the life of convicted murderer Larry Winters. Later followed The Hawk, starring Helen Mirren as a woman who begins to suspect that her husband is a serial killer. More recently, The Near Room is a dark and disturbing film about child abuse and corruption set in Glasgow.
Hayman was awarded the City of Glasgow's gold medal in 1992, for outstanding services to the performing arts. In 2001 he founded the humanitarian charity Spirit Aid which is dedicated to children of the world whose lives have been devastated by war, genocide, poverty, abuse or lack of opportunity at home and abroad. Hayman is currently Head of Operations of the charity which undertakes humanitarian relief projects from Kosovo to Guinea-Bissau, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and South Africa.
Hayman is currently working on production of a biopic of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns.
