Daniel Abineri (born 8 August 1958) is an English songwriter, actor, director and playwright known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the controversial rock musical Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom.. (The 1994 London production made national news when it caused grave offence to the Roman Catholic Church and was closed down after just 9 performances.)
Abineri's father was the actor John Abineri and his mother was part-time actress Hilary Bamford. From 1974 to 1998 Abineri worked as an actor, starting his career in repertory theatre in England. He starred as Father Neil opposite Arthur Lowe in the 1970s TV comedy Bless Me Father which led to a leading role opposite Tatum O'Neal in International Velvet. In 1979, at the age of 21, he was cast as Frank-n-Furter in the first British tour of The Rocky Horror Show, a role he played subsequently in the West End and over three thousand times on several tours of Australia and New Zealand, which he also directed. He played the villainous Jake Sanders in the 1980s Australian series Return to Eden. He is also credited with giving Russell Crowe his first professional acting role in a production of The Rocky Horror Show in New Zealand in 1986, and he subsequently cast Crowe as the lead in Bad Boy Johnny & The Prophets of Doom in 1989.
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means, "God is my judge", and derives from two early biblical figures, primary among them Daniel from the Book of Daniel. It is a common given name for males, and is also used as a surname. It is also the basis for various derived given names and surnames.
The name evolved into over 100 different spellings in countries around the world. Nicknames (Dan, Danny) are common in both English and Hebrew, although in some instances "Dan" may be a complete given name rather than a nickname. The name "Daniil" (Даниил) is common in Russia. Feminine versions (Danielle, Daniela, Daniella, Dani, Danitza) are prevalent as well. The Dutch names "Daan" and "Daniël" are also variations of Daniel. A related surname developed as a patronymic, Daniels. Other surnames derived from "Daniel" include McDaniel and Danielson.
In the United States, the U.S. Social Security Administration reports that Daniel has peaked as the fifth most popular name for newborns in 1985, 1990, 2007, and 2008. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in the 2000 census, "Daniels" was the 182nd most common surname in the U.S., while "McDaniel" was ranked at 323, and "Daniel" (without a final "s") was ranked at 380.
"Daniel" is a song by English recording artist Bat for Lashes, from her second studio album, Two Suns. It is her best selling single to date, selling over 46,000 copies worldwide. The song was announced as the lead single from Two Suns in January 2009, then released as a digital download single on 1 March 2009, and as a 7" vinyl single on 6 April 2009. The track was written by Natasha Khan and produced by David Kosten, as with all tracks on the album. Ira Wolf Tuton from Yeasayer provided the bass lines for the song and Khan did the rest of the instrumentation herself. Khan said in an interview with The Sun newspaper that "Daniel" is based on a fictional character that she fell in love with as a teenager. The single's cover features Khan with an image of the character Daniel LaRusso, from the film The Karate Kid, painted on her back. A character much like LaRusso also features at the end of the music video which goes with the song. The B-side of the 7" is a cover version of a 1980 single by The Cure.
Daniel is an English department store chain and Royal Warrant holder, with its flagship store situated in central Windsor. It was established in 1901 by Walter James Daniel, and is privately owned.
Coordinates: 51°28′55″N 0°36′35″W / 51.4820°N 0.6097°W / 51.4820; -0.6097