"[4] Rayfiel got his start in television in the mid-1950s, writing episodes for TV series including Assignment Foreign Legion and Norby.
Rayfiel had uncredited rewrites ("script doctoring") on Pollack's feature films starting in 1965 with The Slender Thread; their collaboration continued over the next few decades.
[7] Among those who swore by Rayfiel's abilities were actors Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and director Sidney Lumet, who trumpeted, "If you've got trouble with your picture, get David.
"[4] Remarkably humble, Rayfiel pointed out that the most effective script doctoring actually happens on set, "Some of the best lines in any picture are written during lunch breaks, on the back of napkins or match covers.
[1] In 1976, Rayfiel received an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay for Three Days of the Condor with Lorenzo Semple Jr.