Keith David was born in New York City's Harlem district and raised in East Elmhurst, in the Queens section of the city. As a child he realized he wanted to act after playing the cowardly lion in his school's production of "The Wizard of Oz". He later enrolled in New York's High School of the Performing Arts and continued his studies at Juilliard. After graduation he was hired as an understudy for Tullus Aufidius in William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus". In 1992 he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role in the Broadway play "Jelly's Last Jam".
Following the 1986 film Platoon, Charlie Sheen - who starred in the films - did a TV interview and credits Keith David with saving his life. While shooting dailies in an open doored Huey gunship, the helicopter banked too hard and Sheen was thrown towards - and would have gone through - the open door. Keith David grabbed Sheen by the back and pulled him back in. Very popular voice-over actor Took over as narrator for the show "City Confidential" after the death of Paul Winfield. Nominated for Broadway's 1992 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical) for "Jelly's Last Jam." Frequent voice collaborator with fellow voice-actor Ron Perlman. Computer games: Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game, Lords of Everquest, Halo 2. Animated series: _"Aladdin" (1993/I)_ , _"Fantastic Four, The" (1994/I)_ , Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans. And they have both had a quest appearance on the TV series The Outer Limits. His ex-wife attended Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) with Lisa Nicole Carson where they both she appeared (and worked backstage) in theater department productions.