Dave Freeman was born in London in 1922.
After serving time in both the Royal Navy and Special Branch, he moved into a career in writing. A spell as a crime reporter seems hardly fitting for one of this country's best loved comedy writers, but is possibly a source of his comedy's tremendous sense of irony
Freeman was best known as the long-term scriptwriter for Benny Hill, working on Benny Hill Show from 1955 to the mid-sixties, when Benny transferred to ITV. He also appeared in a number of small parts in the show, a trait he continued throughout his career, culminating in an on-screen appearance in Carry On Columbus as the inquisitor.
Freeman also wrote episodes of The Avengers, Hancock and several episodes of the Carry On Laughing television series. He wrote comedy material for Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd, Roy Hudd, Arthur Askey, Bernard Braden, Terry Scott and Bill Maynard. He wrote two Carry On film scripts - Carry On Behind and Carry On Columbus, as well as the 1972 Christmas special.
He was most proud, however, of his work for theatre. He wrote three plays, Kindly Keep It Covered, Key for Two and the most popular, the farce A Bedful of Foreigners, which had an eighteen month West End run with Terry Scott and June Whitfield.
Freeman died in 2005 following a prolonged illness.
