Roger Davis (television actor)
Encyclopedia
Jon Roger Davis is an American
actor
and entrepreneur
. The sandy-haired Davis is best known for his boyish good looks, and lilting, Henry Fonda-like voice. He came to fame in such television series as Dark Shadows
and Alias Smith and Jones
. Davis was born in Louisville
, Kentucky
.
, Dark Shadows
. On Dark Shadows, he played Peter Bradford, Jeff Clark, Ned Stuart, Dirk Wilkins, and Charles Delaware Tate. Also in 1962-63, he portrayed Pvt. Roger Gibson in the ABC
television series The Gallant Men
. In 1963, he co-starred with Richard Egan
in the NBC
Western
drama Redigo
, which was the renamed second season of the previous Empire
television series, both set on a ranch
in New Mexico
.
In 1971, Davis narrated the voice-over theme sequence for the western series Alias Smith and Jones
, starring Pete Duel
as Hannibal Heyes/Joshua Smith and Ben Murphy
as Kid Curry/Thaddeus Jones. He also appeared in one of the episodes ("Smiler with a Gun") as slick gunfighter Danny Bilson. Bilson has the distinction of being the only character kind-hearted Kid Curry was ever driven to kill during the series.
When Pete Duel committed suicide at the end of 1971, Davis replaced him as Hannibal Heyes. However, after Davis completed just seventeen episodes it was clear the show would never achieve the same level of popularity as it had with Pete Duel. The series subsequently ended in 1973. Competition from NBC's popular Flip Wilson Show siphoned the show's ratings.
Davis continued to act in guest starring roles on TV series and movies throughout the 1970s, and he has been the voiceover artist for thousands of TV and radio commercials. He also regularly participates in Alias Smith and Jones
and Dark Shadows
festivals and reunions, and, in early 2011, reprised his role of Charles Delaware Tate in a new Dark Shadows
play - The Blind Painter
.
. Roger also renovated the famous Seelbach Hotel
in Louisville, KY, and built an "outstanding" apartment building known as The Willows. His family owned Davis Tire Company in Louisville.
. After a long separation, they divorced in 1978. During his second marriage, to Ohio
native Suzanne Irwin (Emerson,) Roger became a first-time father to a daughter, Margaret ("Meg,") in 1981. The family resided at Spring Station, Louisville
KY
's oldest home, built in 1791. After a divorce in 1983, Davis was briefly married to Louisville
realtor Alice LeGette from 1985-88. Since 1991, Davis has been married to Los Angeles
attorney Donna Jenis.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. The sandy-haired Davis is best known for his boyish good looks, and lilting, Henry Fonda-like voice. He came to fame in such television series as Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
and Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of Western cousin outlaws trying to reform...
. Davis was born in Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
Acting career
Davis first appeared on television in 1962 and garnered attention playing multiple characters on the daytime gothic soap operaSoap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
. On Dark Shadows, he played Peter Bradford, Jeff Clark, Ned Stuart, Dirk Wilkins, and Charles Delaware Tate. Also in 1962-63, he portrayed Pvt. Roger Gibson in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series The Gallant Men
The Gallant Men
The Gallant Men is a 1962-1963 ABC television series which depicted an infantry company of American soldiers fighting their way through Italy in World War II.-Description:...
. In 1963, he co-starred with Richard Egan
Richard Egan (actor)
Richard Egan was an American actor. In some films he is credited as Richard Eagan.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Egan served in the United States Army as a judo instructor during World War II...
in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
drama Redigo
Redigo (TV series)
Redigo is a 15-week Western dramatic series, set on a New Mexico ranch during the early 1960s, which aired over NBC from September 24 to December 31, 1963. It starred Richard Egan as ranch owner Jim Redigo, Roger Davis as Mike the ranch hand, and Elena Verdugo as Gerry...
, which was the renamed second season of the previous Empire
Empire (1962 TV series)
Empire, an hour-long Western television series set on a 1960s ranch in New Mexico, starred Richard Egan , Terry Moore , and Ryan O'Neal . It ran on NBC for a season between September 25, 1962, and May 14, 1963...
television series, both set on a ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
In 1971, Davis narrated the voice-over theme sequence for the western series Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of Western cousin outlaws trying to reform...
, starring Pete Duel
Pete Duel
Pete Duel was an American actor, best known for his role in the television series Alias Smith and Jones.-Early life:Peter Ellstrom Deuel was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in nearby Penfield....
as Hannibal Heyes/Joshua Smith and Ben Murphy
Ben Murphy
Benjamin E. Murphy is an American actor. He is known for his role in the ABC television series Alias Smith and Jones, co-starring as Kid Curry, first with Pete Duel and later with Roger Davis.-Early life:...
as Kid Curry/Thaddeus Jones. He also appeared in one of the episodes ("Smiler with a Gun") as slick gunfighter Danny Bilson. Bilson has the distinction of being the only character kind-hearted Kid Curry was ever driven to kill during the series.
When Pete Duel committed suicide at the end of 1971, Davis replaced him as Hannibal Heyes. However, after Davis completed just seventeen episodes it was clear the show would never achieve the same level of popularity as it had with Pete Duel. The series subsequently ended in 1973. Competition from NBC's popular Flip Wilson Show siphoned the show's ratings.
Davis continued to act in guest starring roles on TV series and movies throughout the 1970s, and he has been the voiceover artist for thousands of TV and radio commercials. He also regularly participates in Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of Western cousin outlaws trying to reform...
and Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
festivals and reunions, and, in early 2011, reprised his role of Charles Delaware Tate in a new Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
play - The Blind Painter
The Blind Painter
Dark Shadows: The Blind Painter is a 2011 Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.-Cast:*Charles Delaware Tate - Roger Davis*Eloise - Nicola Bryant-External links:...
.
Business career
Davis developed land and built luxury homes in southern California until 2010, and owns an interest in movie developer Lonetree Entertainment in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Roger also renovated the famous Seelbach Hotel
Seelbach Hotel
The Seelbach Hotel is a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, founded by Bavarian-born immigrant brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach. It has since been renamed the Seelbach Hilton. The hotel was envisioned by the Seelbach Brothers to embody the old-world grandeur of European hotels in cities such as Vienna...
in Louisville, KY, and built an "outstanding" apartment building known as The Willows. His family owned Davis Tire Company in Louisville.
Personal life
In 1968, Davis married actress and entrepreneur Jaclyn SmithJaclyn Smith
Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best-known for the role of Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels, and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run...
. After a long separation, they divorced in 1978. During his second marriage, to Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
native Suzanne Irwin (Emerson,) Roger became a first-time father to a daughter, Margaret ("Meg,") in 1981. The family resided at Spring Station, Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
KY
KY
KY or Ky may mean:* Kilo-years , the number of years in a millennium* Kyrgyz language ISO 639 alpha-2 code* Air São Tomé and Príncipe, IATA airline designator* Ky Kiske from the Guilty Gear Series...
's oldest home, built in 1791. After a divorce in 1983, Davis was briefly married to Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
realtor Alice LeGette from 1985-88. Since 1991, Davis has been married to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
attorney Donna Jenis.
External links
- Roger Davis Online, Official website