David Spielberg (March 6, 1939 – June 1, 2016) was an American television and film actor. Spielberg was born in Weslaco, Texas, and was a resident of Mercedes, Texas. His father was a Romanian-Jewish immigrant, and his mother was a Mexican-American teacher. After serving in the United States Navy for two years, he enrolled in the University of Texas. Two summers' acting experience in New York City led him to drop out of the university and move to New York to pursue a career in acting. He was not related to American film director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg's screen debut was in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972). He also appeared in Newman's Law (1974), Law and Disorder (1974), Hustle (1975), American Raspberry (1977), The Choirboys (1977), Real Life (1979), Winter Kills (1979), Christine (1983), The Stranger (1987), Alice (1990), and Red Ribbon Blues (1996).