David Fisher was born on 29 December 1788 in St Giles's, Norwich, the eldest of the five surviving children of David Fisher (I) (1760–1832), who was at that time a singer and actor at the Norwich Theatre Royal, and his wife, Elizabeth, née Burrell (1761/2–1814), an actress.

On 24 September 1818, at Drury Lane, then under Stephen Kemble, he played Jaffier in Venice Preserved, Subsequently, he appeared as Lord Townly in The Provoked Husband, and Pyrrhus in Orestes, He was the original Titus in John Howard Payne's Brutus, 3 December 1818, and Angelo in Buck's Italians, or the Fatal Accusation, 3 April 1819.

He failed to establish any strong position, and discovered at the close of the second season that his presence was necessary on the Suffolk circuit.

Returning again to the eastern counties, he built theatres at Bungay, Beccles, Halesworth, Eye, Lowestoft, Dereham, North Walsham, and other places.

He was a musician and a scene-painter, and in the former capacity was leader for some time of the Norwich choral concerts.