Born in Chicago, Illinois to Leo Waldman and Ida Katz, Waldman attended
Washington University in
St. Louis, Missouri, graduating in 1938. Aside from his
Bachelor of Arts, Waldman was awarded the school's $75 Dramatic Club Prize and, more important, a scholarship to the Berkshire Playhouse in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he had a chance to meet, among others,
Jane Wyatt,
Edith Barrett and
Sinclair Lewis, and to perform alongside such actors as
Fred Stone,
Jane Cowl and
Eugenie Leontovich. After serving in the army from 1943 to 1946, Waldman joined the
Actors' Laboratory Theatre in Los Angeles, Waldman's radio credits include ongoing roles in
Big Town and
Those We Love and at least one appearance on the anthology series
Favorite Story. In the summer of 1948, by which time he had amassed more than 100 stage and radio credits (along with his first feature film), Waldman adopted the stage name David Wolfe, appearing in such films as
The Undercover Man,
5 Fingers,
Wait Till The Sun Shines, Nellie, and
Salt of the Earth. Following his appearance before the
House Un-American Activities Committee, Wolfe was blacklisted; consequently, the professional alias underwent one last tweak, and, as of no later than the December 1956
New York Shakespeare Festival revival of
Titus Andronicus, Waldman was being billed as David Bauer. As David Bauer, he appeared in
The Baron,
The Champions (where he provided opening narration for each episode),
The Avengers,
Department S, ''
Gideon's Way, Jason King, The Prisoner, The Protectors, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint, Strange Report, and Undermind''. He appeared in films such as
Patton,
Inspector Clouseau,
Diamonds Are Forever,
You Only Live Twice, and
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. ==Personal life and death==