David Plunket Greene was born on 19 November 1904, the son of
Harry Plunket Greene and
Gwendoline Maud Parry.
James Knox described David and his elder brother Richard as a "wildly irresponsible pair who had never experienced any form of parental control". He attended
West Downs School,
Harrow School, and then
Oxford University where his brother
Richard Plunket Greene was a very good friend of
Evelyn Waugh. At Oxford Plunket Greene was part of the Railway Club and the
Hypocrites' Club. When in May 1925 the authorities ordered the closure of the Hypocrites' Club, David Plunket Greene rented the former premises of the club. The 1930 novel
Vile Bodies, satirising the
Bright Young Things, the decadent young London society between World War I and World War II, is partly inspired by the Plunket Greene family. at Oxford, conceived by
John Sutro, dominated by
Harold Acton. Left to right, back:
Henry Yorke,
Roy Harrod,
Henry Weymouth, David Plunket Greene,
Harry Stavordale,
Brian Howard; middle row:
Michael Rosse, John Sutro,
Hugh Lygon, Harold Acton,
Bryan Guinness,
Patrick Balfour,
Mark Ogilvie-Grant,
Johnny Drury-Lowe; front: porters David Plunket Greene was a "dandy devoted to all that was fashionable". His cousin was
Hugh Lygon and therefore he was often a guest at
Madresfield Court. Lygon and David attended West Downs together, and together decided to go to Oxford. The Plunket Greene siblings, Richard, Olivia and David, went often to New York City, to have their trousers cut properly and to frequent the
Harlem Renaissance clubs. David Plunket Green was also a jazz musician. The marriage was short lived, they divorced in October 1928, and already in May 1929 Babe Plunket Greene was announcing her engagement to Count Anthony de Bosdari, former fiancé of actress
Tallulah Bankhead. ''Blackbirds Party at David Plunket Greene's, Somewhere in Knightsbridge'' is a 1927 painting by
Anthony Wysard currently at the
National Portrait Gallery, London. David Plunket Greene committed suicide on 24 February 1941. ==References==