David Freedman was born in Botosani, a major city in northeastern Romania, to Israel and Sarah Freedman. After his family immigrated to America in 1901, they settled in New York's lower East Side, where his father began writing for Jewish language newspapers under the pseudonym "Israel the Yankee" and later "Yankee Freedman".
David attended De Witt Clinton High School, graduating with honors, and later enrolled in the College of the City of New York (now New York University),where he earned his Phi Beta Kappa key. Before achieving success as a radio gag writer, David had a varied career, including being a failed poet, a superintendent of an orphanage, an editor of a baker's trade paper, the manager of a cardboard box factory, and a self-taught pianist.
It was his stories about a fictional slacker philosopher named Mendel Marantz that brought him literary success. "Mendel Marantz - Housewife", which he sold to the Pictorial Review for $350, was considered one of the best short stories of 1922. A Mendel Marantz novel, play, and film script followed in rapid succession.
David collaborated with many notable radio stars of the 1920s and 1930s, including Eddie Cantor, with whom he had a contract dispute that led to a split. Before his death, he had also helped Cantor write his autobiography and had co-authored a biography of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. with him.
David Freedman died of a heart attack on December 8, 1936, just hours before he was scheduled to appear in court for a second day of testimony related to his contract dispute with Cantor. He was survived by his wife, Beatrice Goodman, and their four children.
