The Kirschbaum house was always a house filled with love; that love, however, was tampered with an overtone of prejudice and discrimination. Ernst Kirschbaum was the son of a member of Hitler's Third Reich, and always attempted to instill a message of hatred into is son. In turn, it was not uncommon for the patriarch of the Kirschbaum household to utter slurs or make derogatory comments, and this didn't change when he and his wife, Ida, welcomed their first child into the world. David's parents loved him, very deeply, despite having a temperamental and colic-y child. David was a test for them, a guinea pig of sorts to determine how they would raise their children and whether or not they would have more. Despite his father's behaviour, David grew into a bright, inquisitive young child, with a thirst for knowledge and a never-ending desire for playmates, urges that they were more than happy to satisfy. His childhood was a constant supply of books and play dates, and around the time that David turned four and a half, the couple decided to try again, this time bringing into the world their second and last son, Mattis. The two brothers, despite a five year age gap, grew up close, David reading to his younger brother once he was able; taking him on adventures as soon as he could walk.

School, for David, was easy. As a young child, he made fast friends with any of his peers, despite feeling as if he were smarter than they were, even at a very young age. He was always a leader, never a following, always feeling slighted when the other children did not like his ideas more than those of his peers. As he grew older, this flourished into what became David's occasional snobbery and permanent feelings of self-importance. By the time that he was fourteen, he had developed into a properly snarky, short-tempered young man, the bane of both his parents' and his teachers' existences. At fifteen, David entered into a relationship with a girl, insisting to his mother that it was "nothing major" and that she was just the "first of many". An innocent childhood love developed into something much deeper, and when the pair were seventeen years old, they announced that they were moving to America, both to attend Stanford University - David for a degree in drama, an area that he had fallen hopelessly in love with despite his father's insistence that it was a "pussy" thing to do, and Merle for a degree in Veterinarian Medicine. People, primarily their parents, insisted that they were rushing, that there was nothing for them in the United States that they could find just as comfortably in Germany. Young and headstrong, the couple persisted anyway, relocating to California and renting a small apartment in Stanford, not far from the University's campus, with a small sum of money from both of their parents.

Their lives were comfortable and easy, and their relationship was somehow able to withstand the pressures of collegiate life. Despite their opposing personalities, Merle being a very shy, demure woman and David anything but, they were able to withstand the pressure, largely from David's absence due to his activity within the University's theatre program. Through his numerous performances on the University stage, David slowly became a well-known theatre figure, first amongst the Stanford community and later, beyond. He experienced success, academic and otherwise, his ability to transform from character to character in a matter of minutes, regardless of their traits, his most obvious talent. Merle, of course, found herself resenting her boyfriend, feeling as if he were leaving her behind. After a particularly bad fight, David made statement along the lines of, "if we're going to fight this much, why don't we just get married?" The inquiry effectively ended the fight, and the next day, the two took the opportunity to discuss the idea further. They were young at the time, but it made sense, so the couple eloped over the summer between their third and fourth years of university with none of their friends and family present. It was hardly an ideal way to solidify their relationship, but the young pair were in love, and David had no qualms with looking reckless to onlookers.

In the next year, graduated school together, David with an honours degree, before relocating to Los Angeles. While it hadn't really been on his radar before, David had set his sights on Hollywood, determined to have his name in lights. His aspirations were a small slight to his father; David had spent a great deal of time fighting with his father over his eventual return to Germany, with Ernst insisting that his son had a foolish dream that was impossible to achieve. They settled in Los Angeles nicely, the hustle and bustle of the city something that both David and Merle adjusted to easily. His arrival in LA was one stroke of luck after another - the agent who first took him on, who is still his agent to this day, was a Stanford alumnus and had seen David perform at several of the University's productions. Through his agent, David was tossed into a circle of people he had not previously known, and it was only two months after his relocation to Los Angeles that he was cast as Sodapop Curtis in 1983's THE OUTSIDERS.

The eighties were very kind to David. It started with the outsiders, and led to films like the breakfast club and ferris bueller's day off, the latter of which garnered David his first Golden Globe nomination. Despite not winning, he considered being nominated for only his third film to be a great honour, and a sign that he had to be doing something right. In 1985 and 1987, the Kirschbaum's welcomed a boy and a girl, respectively, into their home. David had never really considered the idea of being a father, especially given the fact that he was only twenty-three when his daughter was born. The moment he met his children, however, something changed. He turned into a father first, even going so far as to allow his duties as a husband to fall by the wayside. Despite the fact that he ended up being the fact stricter parent, David continued to hold a very close relationship with both of his children. In 1987, David signed on to play Officer Tom Hanson in television's "21 jump street", a series which skyrocketed him to fame and cemented David as an 80s heart throb, as well as forced him to live away from home in Vancouver, Canada for several months of the year. He loved every moment of "21 jump street", but found his newfound fame to be rather irritating, and even after the first season was finished, David was thirsting to be taken more seriously. Originally, he did not expect his role in 1988's big to do that for him, though the critical reception he received for the movie was unexpected. His role as Josh Baskin earned him his first Golden Globe, as well as his first Oscar nomination. From that point on, David Kirschbaum, the sassy and altogether too-smart-for-his-own-good German heartthrob had become a household name.

David left "21 jump street" in 1991, determined to focus more on his career, wanting to expand his resume into more adult roles. It was also in 1991, however, that David's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The diagnosis was shocking, of course, but positive in that the doctor assured them, almost completely, that there was a very good chance that Merle could beta it. So the couple stayed positive, stayed happy, slowly telling their children that, "mommy was sick but she was going to get better", so it was nothing for them to be overly worried about. David continued to work, though not as frequently, his most notable role of the time being Andrew Beckett in philadelphia, which garnered him his first Oscar. Taking the role of Andrew greatly offended his father - since then, the pair's relationship has been strained, Ernst convinced that son was of loose morals. Even with his relationship with his father slowly failing, David continued to succeed in work, his most notable role after philadelphia being that of the iconic Woody in toy story and toy story 2.

Despite any occupational success that he had, it was late August in 1997 when David and Merle received rather devastating news. Previously, her therapy had been working, things had been looking positive, the pair of them had hope that their marriage would be long-lasting until they were late in their lives. It is in this time that David considers he made the biggest mistake of his life - when Merle was at her sickest, while filming the epic lord of the rings, accepted a role in gladiator. Despite how sick Merle became, David continued to work, making frequent trips home. After finishing his work for lord of the rings, David immediately launched into production for gladiator, though three weeks into filming he was forced to take a small hiatus. Merle was at her sickest, and David returned home, no longer able to excuse the fact that he was prioritizing work over his family. He spent two weeks by her side, hardly eating, rarely sleeping, until on April 11th, 1999, Merle finally succumbed to her cancer. David took two more weeks to finalize things, to clear up any final arrangements, and he returned to the set of gladiator a different man than when he had left. To say that Merle's death had a profound impact on him would be an understatement; David retreated into himself for several years, grew cold and more callous than he had been before. He threw himself into work, instead of into a relationship with his children, who stayed with Merle's sister in San Diego. Their relationships suffered. David regrets it completely.

David experienced great commercial success after the death of his wife, most notably the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. He continued to work, able to afford himself the luxury of picking and choosing when he wanted to work and how often. When he wasn't working, David spent much of his time travelling, seeing the world. He spent the vast majority of his time in Cape Town, South Africa, an area he fell in love with after an impromptu visit. David, still, failed to connect with his children on a deeper level, but found that the few years after the death of his wife, where he spent much of his time avoiding normal civilization, to offer him a lot of clarity. Many hailed 2004 as the year that David "returned", releasing three projects in the calendar year - CRASH, KILL BILL VOL. 2, and THE TERMINAL. After several years spent as mostly a recluse, he pushed himself back to work again, slowly coming to terms with the fact that yes, he was alone but no, his life was not over. He wrote and produced his first project, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK in 2005, and it was while promoting that movie that he had a small run-in with the police. David was arrested after punching a photographer, who had been harassing him, and was brought up on assault charges. They were dropped, but he considered the incident to be a great embarrassment.

Since, David has continued to work, keeping himself as busy has he felt comfortable with. His relationship with his children has since improved, so much so that any resentment between them had vanished - the three of them now have a very close, tight-knit relationship that David would not change a thing about, and while he regrets how absent he was for much of their adolescence, he feels as if that were changed, their current relationship would be changed as well. His father passed away from natural causes in 2009, an incident that had surprisingly little effect on David, outside of forcing him to drop out of BLACK SWAN. The two were never close, his father unable to get around the fact that his son had found such great success in a career that the elder Kirschbaum believed required 'little to no skill or hard work'. He currently resides primarily in Brentwood, California, with his two dogs and no ambitions other than to work until he can't anymore.