David Rose was a British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, and orchestra leader known as "one of the most popular and distinctive mainstream instrumental pop composers" of the 20th century. He was famed for compositions such as "The Stripper," "Holiday for Strings," and "Calypso Melody," and he also wrote music for the television series "Little House on the Prairie" (of which he was musical director) and "Bonanza."

Recipient of four Emmy awards, David Rose was born in London on June 15, 1910, raised in Chicago, and died in Burbank, California, on August 23, 1990.

He was married first, on October 8, 1938, as her second husband, to the actress Martha Raye (née Margy Reed). They were divorced on May 19, 1941.

He was married secondly, on July 28, 1941, to the actress and singer Judy Garland (née Frances Ethel Gumm). They had no children, though Garland reportedly underwent at least one abortion during the marriage, at the insistence of her mother, her husband, and the studio that employed her, MGM. Garland and Rose divorced in 1945.

On his passing in 1990, David Rose was interred in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, California .