Neville Gleave was born in Timperley, Altrincham, Cheshire on 7 August 1935. His father was James Eric Gleave, a headmaster, his mother was Rhoda née Smedley. He was educated at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and went on to study medicine at St Thomas's Hospital. His appointments included lecturer in surgery at the Welsh National School of Medicine and honorary senior registrar to the United Cardiff Hospitals. After his marriage, he moved to Manchester as lecturer in surgery at the University Hospital of South Manchester, and in 1973 was appointed senior lecturer and honorary consultant surgeon there. In 1974 he was awarded the Raven prize by the British Association of Surgical Oncology. He was chairman of the planning and development committee at the Christie Hospital before his retirement. His interest in tumours of the salivary glands took him to China, to the Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences in Guanzhou. He married Patricia Milligan in 1970. They had one daughter, Laura. He had many interests including riding, cross-country skiing, walking his dogs, travelling, the theatre and opera. He died in his own hospital on 30 September 1998, after a long illness.