David Leland

David Leland is an English film actor, director, and screenwriter. He was born on April 20, 1947, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire in England, UK. He attended Central School of Speech and Drama, where he trained as an actor, and later graduated from Drama Centre London during the 60s. After doing small roles, he collaborated with the British director, Alan Clarke in 1983 critically acclaimed British television play, Made in Britain. In 1986, he penned the screenplay of the British neo-noir mystery drama film, Mona Lisa, where he earned nominations at the Writers Guild of America and Golden Globe. In the same year, he penned the comedy film, Personal Services, which was helmed by Terry Jones.

In 1987, he made his directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, which stars Tom Bell and Emily Lloyd. David won the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay in 1988, and the film became a success at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987. His next films, Checking Out and The Big Man, failed to make it to the box office, but it was a success at the private market. He co-writes and directed The Land Girls in 1998 and the 6th Episode of the very successful war drama miniseries, Band of Brothers.

In the year 2012, he became the executive producer and co-showrunner of Neil Jordan’s historical fiction TV series, The Borgian. When his friend, George Harrison (Beatles’ lead guitarist), died in 2001, David became closely involved with a memorial concert entitled Concert for George. He even made a cinematic documentary, which later put on DVD and went platinum. In 2007, he directed the romantic comedy film, Virgin Territory, which is based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron.

As an actor, he appeared in films like 1917, Scars of Dracula, The Pied Piper, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Time Bandits, The Missionary, Personal Services, When Saturday Comes, and a lot more. He met his wife, Sabrina, during a shoot in Italy for Decameron. From his previous marriage, David had five children namely Chloe, Abigail, Rosie, Jacob and Grace.