David Naughton

David Walsh Naughton, born February 13, 1951, in West Hartford, Connecticut, is an American actor and singer whose career has spanned theater, television, film, and commercial work. The son of two teachers, Rosemary and Joseph Naughton, he grew up in an Irish American family and is the younger brother of theater and film actor James Naughton. He attended the University of Pennsylvania on a soccer scholarship, studying drama and graduating in 1973, before continuing his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After two years in London, he relocated to New York, where he worked as a waiter while pursuing an acting career.

Naughton made his professional acting debut in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Hamlet, which starred Sam Waterston. That credit is among his Broadway-era appearances, which span 1975 to 1978 and also include Hugh Leonard's Da, for which he served as assistant stage manager and understudy. Following those early theater engagements, he found steady work in additional local stage productions.

His transition to broader public recognition came through a four-year run, from 1977 to 1981, as the face of Dr Pepper's "Be a Pepper" advertising campaign. The commercials featured Naughton singing and dancing in a Broadway musical style while distributing bottles of the beverage, and they earned multiple Clio Awards. The campaign incorporated appearances by celebrities including Mickey Rooney and Jimmie Walker, as well as animated figures such as Fred Flintstone and Popeye. Naughton periodically returned to the role after the main campaign concluded, including a Diet Dr Pepper commercial in 1988 and a flash mob performance of the jingle at the New York Stock Exchange in 2010.

The visibility generated by the Dr Pepper campaign led directly to his casting as the lead of the sitcom Makin' It. In 1979, Naughton recorded the show's theme song, also titled "Makin' It," which reached the top five on the Billboard charts and sold over one million copies in the United States, peaking at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart. The sitcom itself ran for only nine episodes before cancellation.

Naughton's film career began with a starring role in the Disney comedy Midnight Madness in 1980. That performance led to his casting in An American Werewolf in London, the 1981 comedy-horror film directed by John Landis. The production was notable for the innovative special effects and makeup created by Rick Baker to depict the werewolf transformation, work that earned Baker the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup. The film was both a critical and commercial success.

In subsequent years, Naughton continued working in television, taking on a recurring role in 19 episodes of My Sister Sam between 1986 and 1988, playing the ex-boyfriend of the character portrayed by Pam Dawber. The series was cancelled during its second season due to low ratings. Following the murder of the show's co-star Rebecca Schaefer by a stalker, Naughton joined other cast members in a public service announcement addressing handgun violence. His additional television credits include guest appearances on MacGyver, Melrose Place, Murder She Wrote, JAG, and Seinfeld.