He is the son of the famous aviation general Alfredo Santalla Estrella, who was the only Bolivian military man who managed to participate in the First World War and one of the great military heroes during the Chaco War. From a very young age, David Santalla lived in Chile, where he learned his talents as a humorist, creating fictional characters. David Santalla was a lonely child. His two older brothers did not include him in their games and his parents had already lost the habit of buying toys, so the little one had to manage to have fun. He would pick up stones to paint faces and make them speak: each with a different voice. "It helped me to exercise my throat and my imagination," says the comedian, who is celebrating 50 years of artistic activity. A trajectory that began with declamation and "audience animation" on the radio.

Filmography