David spent his early years in Erdington, England, the son of an accountant, and developed a passion for writing at a young age, publishing two murder mystery novels by the time he was sixteen. Upon leaving school, he took an apprenticeship as a journalist and became a reporter, with the ambition to work in London. However, with the threat of war looming, he joined the Royal Service Voluntary Reserve of the Fleet Air Arm as a trainee pilot before taking an officer's course at The Greenwich Naval College.
During the Second World War, David spent the first three years flying, earning a DSC for bravery, and then transferred to the Admiralty Press Division. It was during his time in Sydney that he met Captain Anthony Kimmins, a well-known broadcaster on naval affairs, who inspired him to pursue a career in the film industry.
After the war, David settled in London and eventually landed a post as Publicity Director for The Rank Organization, where he handled the press relations for Rank film stars, including Jean Simmons, Petula Clark, Diana Dors, Joan Collins, Jill Ireland, and Brigitte Bardot. In 1956, he collaborated with his long-term writing partner, Jack Seddon, and they began working on scripts full-time at Pinewood Studios.
Their early scripts included "Count Five and Die" (1957),and it wasn't until twenty-one years later that their script "Tomorrow Never Comes" (1978) was finally made. David continued to work as a freelance film and TV scriptwriter, primarily focusing on war and murder mystery themes, and his last movie made for TV was "Black Arrow" in 1985, a 15th-century historical war drama.
Throughout his career, David worked on many commissioned scripts, treatments, and original stories that never reached the sound stage. He also experimented with writing for the theatre, worked in Bollywood, and even took his tape recorder to the front line in Israel for a documentary on the Six Day War. Later, he became a Film and TV adviser and continued to write newspaper articles.
David lived a full and exciting life, enjoying traveling the world, partying, theatergoing, watching night shoots at Pinewood Studios, completing the Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword daily, and driving fast cars. He was a popular and charismatic conversationalist who enjoyed helping aspiring young writers achieve success in their careers.
