Roger Davis (television actor)

(Jon) Roger Davis
Davis in 1972
Born	(1939-04-05) April 5, 1939 Bowling Green, Kentucky
Years active	1962–present
Spouse(s)	Jaclyn Smith (1968–1978) Suzanne Irwin (1979–1983) Alice LeGette (1985–1988) Donna Jenis (1991–1996)

Roger Davis (born April 5, 1939) 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, and also appeared on an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Acting career

Davis first appeared on television in 1962. He portrayed Pvt. Roger Gibson in the ABC television series The Gallant Men.^[1] 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.^[2] In 1964, Davis appeared in one episode of The Twilight Zone, "Spur of the Moment", co-starring Diana Hyland, and had a supporting role in the 1964 film Ride the Wild Surf.

From 1968 to 1970, Davis garnered attention playing multiple characters on the daytime Gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows. He played Peter Bradford, Jeff Clark, Ned Stuart, Dirk Wilkins, and Charles Delaware Tate.^[3]

In 1971, Davis narrated the voiceover theme sequence for the western series Alias Smith and Jones, starring Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes/Joshua Smith and Ben Murphy as Jedidiah "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.^[4] Also in 1971 appeared in an episode of NBC's Bonanza 1/17/1971 S12/E17.

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.^[5]

Davis continued to act in guest starring roles on TV series throughout the 1970s, as well as the occasional film appearance in movies such as Killer Bees (1974), Nashville Girl (1976), Ruby (1977) and Aspen (1977), and he has been the voiceover artist for thousands of TV and radio commercials. In 2000, he appeared in the film Beyond the Pale. Davis regularly attends fan conventions for both Alias Smith and Jones and Dark Shadows, and in 2011, he reprised his role of Charles Delaware Tate in a new Dark Shadows audio play, The Blind Painter.^[6]

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 Angeles. Roger also renovated the famous Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, and built a luxury condominium building there, known as 1400 Willow. His family owned Davis Tire Company in Louisville.^[7]

Personal life

In 1968, Davis married actress and entrepreneur Jaclyn Smith. 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 in 1981. The family resided at Spring Station, Louisville, Kentucky's oldest home, built in 1791. After a divorce in 1983, Davis briefly was married to realtor Alice LeGette from 1985 to 1988. In 1991, Davis married Los Angeles attorney Donna Jenis; they divorced in 1996.^[8]

References

External links

• Roger Davis Online, Official website
• Roger Davis on IMDb