David James Elliott was singing in a rock band when he read King Lear in a theater history class at the age of 19 and was encouraged to try his hand at acting. He was accepted at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (a Canadian arts college equivalent to Juilliard) in 1983 and later at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, where he won the Jean Chalmers Award as Most Promising Actor. He then starred in the CBC series "Street Legal" from 1985 to 1988.

Elliott, who played Terry Parson in "Melrose Place," credits his one-time appearance as Carl the moving guy on "Seinfeld" with opening more doors for him than all his other experience combined. In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles and was signed to a development deal with Disney. His r鳵m頱uickly grew as he guest-starred in such series as "Doogie Howser, M.D.," "China Beach," "The Hitchhiker" and "Dark Justice." In 1992, he landed a recurring role as a pro baseball player in the long-running CBS hit series "Knots Landing," and later that year he starred in the syndicated series "The Untouchables." His feature-film credits include "Clockwatchers" and "The Shrink Is In." Among his other television credits is the movie "Dodson's Journey," on CBS.

Elliott was born in Toronto and has also lived in Los Angeles.