David Rayfiel

Career overview

David Rayfiel was an American screenwriter and a frequent collaborator of director Sydney Pollack. Born on September 9, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, his father was congressman Leo F. Rayfiel. He was educated at Brooklyn College, graduating with the class of 1947, and later attended the Yale School of Drama, where he received a master degree in playwrighting. Throughout his career, Rayfiel was known for his work in screenplay, writing, teleplay, additional writing, and acting.

Some of his work includes the films The Firm, Three Days of the Condor, Sabrina, Intersection, Havana, The Morning After, and Death Watch, as well as television work such as Columbo and Condor. He accumulated known credits numbering twenty.

In his personal life, Rayfiel married television screenwriter Lila Garrett in 1950, and the couple had a daughter named Eliza before later divorcing. His second wife was actor Maureen Stapleton, and he was survived at the time of his death by his daughter Eliza and his third wife, Lynne Schwarzenbek-Rayfiel. David Rayfiel died on June 22, 2011, at the age of 87.