Dave McClain was born David Allen McClain in the Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Parma. He was raised in Parma and Brook Park, Ohio by his parents, William McClain and Marlene McClain (nee Taschner). Dave traces his ancestry to various countries in Europe, especially Germany. He is the oldest of six children, with siblings living in the Cleveland area and from North Carolina to California. Dave discovered and developed his love and talent for acting by appearing in school plays at Ford Junior High School (Brook Park, OH), Midpark High School (Middleburg Hts., OH), Edinboro University (Edinboro, PA) and, while teaching history at Great Bridge High School (Chesapeake, VA). Dave graduated high school with honors and graduated college Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.

Dave joined the Army in 1995, working in Public Affairs until his retirement in late 2015. He trained and served at bases in South Carolina, Maryland, Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland and Texas. He also worked at the Pentagon, served in Italy and Germany, and deployed to Iraq, Haiti and Jordan. Dave continued acting in theater productions as an active-duty soldier, winning individual and group theater awards and earning the right to perform at the National Theater Festival, AACT Fest in Memphis, TN in 1999. During his Army career, Dave also wrote, directed and produced many skits, plays and video productions at churches in Augusta, GA and Alexandria, VA. In his official capacity in Army Public Affairs, Dave served as adviser to the FOX TV series "Enlisted" and appeared in the special "Enlisted Boot Camp".

After retiring from the Army, Dave devoted himself to a career in the arts. He is a professional, experienced, skilled and passionate photographer, videographer, photo and video editor, a published and prolific movie reviewer, a writer of screenplays and short stories and an in-demand actor. He has appeared in over 50 projects in and around Houston, Austin and Dallas, Texas, to include feature films, short films, TV shows and webisodes, commercials, industrials, music videos and voice-overs. Dave continues actively pursuing his various artistic endeavors, hoping to earn a wider audience for his writing, as well as becoming involved with even bigger and more widely-seen films and television shows which entertain and inspire, while causing audience members to think, and become more active in making the world a better place, one word or deed at a time.

Dave has two grown children, William and Savannah, and lives in the Houston suburbs with his wife, Elizabeth.