David Preston(VIII)
- Actor
- Writer
David Preston was born in Santa Monica, California and grew up in Hollywood among skateboarders, surfers, musicians, dancers and artists. After graduating from Fairfax High and interested in pursuing acting as a profession, his father, a veteran film publicist, introduced him to good friend Nina Foch and David quickly immersed himself into the craft. He went on to study with the incomparable Peggy Feury and William Traylor at the Loft Studio, Howard Fine, Arlene Golonka and Jeffrey Marcus.
David's first television appearance was on Columbia Pictures TV The New Gidget (1986) playing charmingly surfed-out series regular Murph the Surf. Other noteworthy TV appearances include Hawaii Five-0 (2010) playing double-agent Jack Teague, arsonist and kidnapper Henry Carson in the two-part series finale of Magnum P.I. (2018) Gerald the snake charmer on The Rookie (2018) Agent Wilson on Syfy's Stormageddon (2015) and cult-favorite Max Headroom (1987) opposite Jeffrey Tambor. On film, he played opposite James Woods in The Boost (1988) directed by Harold Becker and as Jeremy in Higher Power (2018) from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura among others.
His theatre credits include Prince Escalus in "Romeo & Juliet", Carlson in "Of Mice And Men", Dr. Adam Stanton in "All The King's Men", Bob Ewell in "To Kill A Mockingbird", Bobby's Father in Dennis Lehane's "Coronado" which was noted by StageSceneLA's Steven Stanley "played to scary perfection by David Preston." David also gave an unforgettable performance playing the infamous SS Colonel Josef Meisinger in "Fugu" where reviewer Joe Straw wrote, "Preston's work is exceptional and he brings a dark presence to the man who has been called in real life 'The Butcher of Warsaw'."
David has also appeared in several short films playing a wide variety of characters including Jake, a father destroyed by guilt, attempting to re-connect with his daughter in Nightfall (2019). As a jaded E.M.T. in the thriller Ambulance (2016), as the paranoid Teddy, a reclusive trophy hunter in the thriller The Big Five (2019), as terminally-ill Conor determined to die with dignity in the drama Tidelands (2021), and most recently, as Elio Rossi, an Italian mobster in the upcoming dark comedy Made (2022).
David's first television appearance was on Columbia Pictures TV The New Gidget (1986) playing charmingly surfed-out series regular Murph the Surf. Other noteworthy TV appearances include Hawaii Five-0 (2010) playing double-agent Jack Teague, arsonist and kidnapper Henry Carson in the two-part series finale of Magnum P.I. (2018) Gerald the snake charmer on The Rookie (2018) Agent Wilson on Syfy's Stormageddon (2015) and cult-favorite Max Headroom (1987) opposite Jeffrey Tambor. On film, he played opposite James Woods in The Boost (1988) directed by Harold Becker and as Jeremy in Higher Power (2018) from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura among others.
His theatre credits include Prince Escalus in "Romeo & Juliet", Carlson in "Of Mice And Men", Dr. Adam Stanton in "All The King's Men", Bob Ewell in "To Kill A Mockingbird", Bobby's Father in Dennis Lehane's "Coronado" which was noted by StageSceneLA's Steven Stanley "played to scary perfection by David Preston." David also gave an unforgettable performance playing the infamous SS Colonel Josef Meisinger in "Fugu" where reviewer Joe Straw wrote, "Preston's work is exceptional and he brings a dark presence to the man who has been called in real life 'The Butcher of Warsaw'."
David has also appeared in several short films playing a wide variety of characters including Jake, a father destroyed by guilt, attempting to re-connect with his daughter in Nightfall (2019). As a jaded E.M.T. in the thriller Ambulance (2016), as the paranoid Teddy, a reclusive trophy hunter in the thriller The Big Five (2019), as terminally-ill Conor determined to die with dignity in the drama Tidelands (2021), and most recently, as Elio Rossi, an Italian mobster in the upcoming dark comedy Made (2022).