After graduating from University of New Mexico, David Wallace worked in public relations for many years. He was a partner in the Gifford-Wallace Inc. agency in New York City and head of the David Wallace and Co. agency in Hollywood and Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the 1980s, he was West Coast representative for nationally syndicated gossip columnist Liz Smith and national correspondent for People magazine. He has written numerous feature articles for the Los Angeles Times, the Denver Post, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, and the Malibu Times.
Wallace is author of Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the 1920s (2012), Lost Hollywood (2001), Hollywoodland (2002), Dream Palaces of Hollywood’s Golden Age (2006), Exiles in Hollywood (2006), and A City Comes Out: How Celebrities Made Palm Springs a Gay and Lesbian Paradise (2008), and was a contributor to Malibu: A Century of Living by the Sea (2004). Wallace lives in Palm Springs, California, where he teaches creative writing and works as a writer and co-writer.
I Called Him Uncle Harry: Growing Up in the Truman-Wallace Household (2020)
Lost Hollywood (LA Times Books, 2001)
“Lost Hollywood is not lost after all, thanks to David Wallace’s new book.”
—Janet Leigh
“Wallace’s concept is inspired.”
—The New York Times
Hollywoodland (St. Martins Griffin, 2002)
“… one of the liveliest books you’ll ever read. … I couldn’t put it down.”
—Ann Miller
“Wallace creates poignant portraits of a lost world.”
—Premiere magazine
Malibu: A Century of Living by the Sea (contributor), (Harry N. Abrams, 2004)
Exiles in Hollywood (Limelight Editions, 2006)
“David Wallace is an apt historian, and his work is valuable and riveting.”
—Liz Smith, syndicated columnist
Dream Palaces of Hollywood’s Golden Age (Harry N. Abrams, 2006)
A City Comes Out: How Celebrities Made Palm Springs a Gay and Lesbian Paradise (Barricade Books, 2008)
Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the 1920s (Lyons Press/Globe Pequot, 2012)
“…compelling and appealing…. [an] engaging recounting of the era as personified by some of its most colorful characters.”
—Sam Roberts, The New York Times
“David Wallace anoints 1920s New York the Capital of the World.”
—Vanity Fair
1937: A Tale of Hollywood’s Nastiest Scandals (CreateSpace, 2016)