- Light opera singer from 1950 until his death
- He died from a brain haemorrhage in Sydney, Australia, while on tour at the age of 54.
- He became the first British artist to have a UK No.1 single in the UK and in the United States with "Cara Mia", featuring Mantovani and his orchestra.
- His first recording to reach the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart in October 1953 was "Bridge of Sighs", written by Billy Reid. "Answer Me" (later recorded with different lyrics as "Answer Me, My Love") reached number one in the UK.
- David Whitfield was a popular British male tenor vocalist from Hull.
- He was the first British male vocalist to earn a gold disc and the third overall.
- His ashes were flown back from Australia to the UK where they were carried out to sea, south of Spurn Point near his birthplace of Hull.
- He used orchestras, including those of Stanley Black, fellow Decca artist Mantovani and Roland Shaw, as backing accompaniment for his hits as, 'Answer Me', 'Cara Mia', 'My September Love' or 'I'll Find You' - the theme music to the 1957 film, Sea Wife, starring Joan Collins and Richard Burton.
- Many of his singles were issued on LP and have been reissued in recent years on CD compilations under license. There were three 45rpm EP specials (1959-60), one entitled "The Good Old Songs" and the other two featuring numbers from "Rose Marie" and "The Desert Song," two musical shows in which Whitfield toured.
- A statue in the memory of Whitfield was unveiled outside of the New Theatre in Hull on 31 August 2012, before the opening night of a show celebrating the life and music of Whitfield.
- He sang in the choir at his church during his childhood and entertained his fellow members of the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
- After the war, he stayed in the navy until June 1950 having had a long spell in Singapore where he broadcast on radio.
- As as a child, became a choir boy in St. Peter's Church and began a lifelong love of singing which made him Britain's most successful solo male star of the chart's early years 1953-1956 until the advent of Rock n Roll.
- Whitfield appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and the 1954 Royal Command Performance alongside Bob Hope, Frankie Howerd, Guy Mitchell, Norman Wisdom, Max Bygraves, Frankie Laine and Howard Keel.
- He was also the first British singer to reach the Top Ten of the Billboard Top 100, and the first artist from Britain to sell over a million copies of a record in the US.
- After leaving the navy, he had taken a job in a cement factory but in 1953 he was given the opportunity to sing in a West-end cabaret at the Washington Hotel, Curzon St., London where he was a great success. This led to a variety stage tour.
- He appeared on Opportunity Knocks, a talent show on Radio Luxembourg on April 30, 1950, and won that round. He subsequently appeared on the all-winners show on May 21, 1950, singing "Good-Bye" from White Horse Inn. This led to his joining the touring stage show of "Opportunity Knocks" hosted by Hughie Green for a while.
- His last LP, made for Philips in 1975 and entitled Hey There! It's David Whitfield, included his third recording of "Cara Mia" (he had already recorded a stereo re-make for Decca in 1966 for an album entitled Great Songs for Young Lovers). Whitfield's last single was for Denman, a coupling of "Land of Hope and Glory" and "When You Lose the One You Love" (1977).
- His only album to reach the UK Albums Chart was "The World of David Whitfield", which reached Number 19.
- He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 17 and served in the Far East as well as being part of the D Day landings in France in 1944.
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