Desmond Barrit (born on 19 October 1944) is a British actor from Swansea, Wales, best known for his stage work.
In 2003, he played Shylock in the Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, while in 2007 he appeared in The History Boys at Wyndham's Theatre portraying the general studies teacher, Hector, made famous by Richard Griffiths in the film version.
[1] In 2004, in a limited-run revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Royal National Theatre Barrit played Pseudolus opposite Philip Quast as Miles Gloriosus, Hamish McColl as Hysterium and Isla Blair as Domina (who had previously played Philia in the 1963 production).
On 7 July 2008, he took over the role of The Wizard from Nigel Planer in the West End production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.
He ended his third return engagement with the show on 7 July 2012 (four years after his debut), and was replaced three weeks later by Keith Bartlett.