Famed naturalist and television personality David Frederick Attenborough was born on May 8, 1926, in a suburb of London, England. The second of three boys born to a university principal and a writer, he and his brothers would all find great success in their chosen careers, which would take them far from the city of Leicester, where they were raised. David’s older brother Richard would become an Academy Award-winning actor and director, and his younger brother, John would become a top executive at the Italian car company Alfa Romeo.