In 1954 he won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his appearance as Geza Szobek in The Young Lovers.

In 1971 he was also actively involved in the Nationwide Festival of Light, an organisation protesting against the commercial exploitation of sex and violence, and advocating the teachings of Christ as the key to re-establishing moral stability in Britain.

He attended the North London Polytechnic, leaving in 1937 to work as a draughtsman and then a furniture designer for a year before becoming an actor.

[7] Kossoff started working in light entertainment on British television in the years following World War II, during which he briefly served in the military.

In 1953, Kossoff played the character Lemuel "Lemmy" Barnet in the British sci-fi radio series Journey into Space.

[16] In its obituary, The Scotsman wrote that David Kossoff was "a man of deep convictions and proud of his Jewish origins".