David Webb was born in Luton, Bedfordshire in 1931. His father was the son of a local baker, and David worked for the family business until developing baker's asthma. He then worked for a local brewery and later for Vauxhall Motors Car Company until retirement.
David's mother was the daughter of a local tailor and hat manufacturer. He trained for an acting career at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) after obtaining a scholarship there in 1952. Prior to that, he was a pupil at Luton Grammar School, becoming Head Prefect before leaving in 1950 for two years' National Service as an instructor in the Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC).
After graduating from RADA in April 1954, David began his career with York Repertory Company for a year and subsequently played with other 'ep' companies at Scarborough and Bromley. He then toured for a year in Emile Littler's musical "Love From Judy" and after did more 'ep' at Richmond and Worthing.
David's career in television began after a successful audition for BBC Television. He was summoned by the then Head of Drama, Michael Barry, and launched into television, making more than 700 appearances, playing a wide variety of roles, and working for all the major programme-producing companies.
He was a prominent character in the early days of Coronation Street and later appeared in numerous other TV programs, including Upstairs, Downstairs, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased),Tales of the Unexpected, Doctor Who, and The Avengers. He also found time for the cinema, appearing in The Battle of Britain.
David was a prolific actor, making over 700 appearances in television programs between the 1960s and the beginning of the present century. He was never out of work, even during a profession with an unemployment rate of 80 per cent.
David was an ardent opponent of censorship and founded the National Campaign for the Reform of the Obscene Publications Acts (NCROPA) in 1976. He ran NCROPA as Honorary Director ever since, championing the cause of freedom of expression.
David stood as an Anti-Censorship/Reform of Obscene Publications Acts candidate against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the constituency of Finchley at the General Election in 1983. He was a past member of the Council of the British Actors' Equity Association and a member of both the National Secular Society and the British Humanist Association.
In private life, David was a grand, convivial character who loved good company, good food, good drink, and classical music. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer early in 2012 and died peacefully in his sleep at Trinity Hospice in Clapham on July 17, 2012, at the age of 81.
