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Roger
Davis
Dark
Shadows Characters:
Jeff
Clark, Peter Bradford, Charles Delaware Tate, Dirk Wilkins, Ned
Stuart
Appeared
in: 129 episodes
First
episode: # 404, January 11, 1968
Last
episode: # 968, March 11, 1970
Birth Name: Jon Roger Davis
Born: April 5, Bowling Green, Kentucky
Roger Davis worked as an English instructor at UCLA before becoming
an actor. "I found that I was more interested in reading plays
than in grading papers," he said in a 1970 ABC-TV press release.
"Then one day in 1962 I decided to quit teaching and study
acting. A casting director saw me in a scene I did in acting class,
and I was signed for a part in a TV series, The Gallent Men."
After that show, a war drama in which he played a radio operator,
was cancelled, Roger starred in Redigo, a 1963 Western series starring
Richard Egan. (Note: Richard's daughter, Jenny Egan, was a DS dayplayer.
In New York, Roger enjoyed a successful run of the political satire MacBird!, in which he played a character based on Robert Kennedy. (He took over the role from William Devane, who originated it in February 1967.) That play closed January 21, 1968, the same month he joined the cast of Dark Shadows.
On DS, he first played one
in a long line of Victoria Winters’ suitors, during the 1795
storyline. Unlike others who came before him, however, his Peter Bradford
finally wed the ingénue later that year, after both characters
returned to present time. Off-screen, Roger married actress Jaclyn
Smith at the same time his DS wedding took place. (After five years of marriage, the couple
divorced, and Jaclyn found enormous fame working with DS alum Kate
Jackson on the TV cop show Charlie’s Angels.) Roger played several other roles, including enchanted artist Charles Delaware Tate, and he played Maggie's boyfriend in House of Dark Shadows.
As she recalls in The Dark Shadows Movie Book, Kathryn Leigh Scott was less than pleased to be working opposite the temperamental, unpredictable actor in HODS. In fact, in interviews, books, and at Dark Shadows Festivals, many DS stars have singled him out as the most unpleasant and unprofessional cast member. In the biographical The Bennetts, even the usually coy Joan Bennett is quoted as saying he had no talent. A notable exception is Lara Parker, who has remained the actor's friend since their time working together on Shadows. She has often praised his loyalty and his head for business, which has helped him earn millions as a real estate developer.
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Roger Davis and his first wife, Jaclyn Smith.
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After
leaving Dark Shadows in March 1970, Roger returned to California. He
did a voice-over introduction to each episode of the ABC-TV western series Alias
Smith and Jones, starring Ben Murphy and Peter Duel in 1971.
After Duel’s suicide on New Year’s Eve that year, Roger
took over his role. (Duel died of a gunshot wound to the head.) Critics likened the actor change to the "Darren Switch" which had occurred on the primetime hit Bewitched in 1969, when fans accepted a new leading man; however that was a more successful transition. Bewitched stayed on the air for three more years.
Alias Smith & Jones went on for just one season with
Roger in the featured role. Scheduled against ratings champ All
in the Family it was cancelled.
Roger continued to work on television and in film—and he became
one of the one of the most successful and recognizable voice-over
artists of the past 45 years, doing hundreds of ads for products
including Anacin pain reliever, Brut cologne, and McDonald’s
restaurants.
In the 1980s, Roger moved into real estate development and continued
to act occasionally. He also formed a clothing company called Packing Crate Classics,
based in Santa Monica, California. (He lives in Malibu.)
In
2003, Roger portrayed Ned Stuart in the reunion play Return
to Collinwood. (Click here to
read about the play.)
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In Return to Collinwood Nancy Barrett and Roger
Davis played husband and wife Carolyn and Ned Stuart.
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Career
Highlights |
PRIMETIME
TV: Nightman
(1998), Matlock (1989), The Highwayman (1988), Galactica 1980
(Andromus, 1980), Medical Center (1978), Wonder Woman (Jack
Corbin, 1978), Quincy (Paul Taggert, 1977), Hardy Boys (Sonny,
1977), Bionic Woman (Tom Hallaway, 1976), This is the West
that Was (Narrator, 1974), Alias Smith and Jones (Hannibal
Heyes, 1972-73; narrator, 1971-73), Bonanza (2 episodes),
Rockford Files (Travis Buckman), Night Gallery, The Bold Ones,
The Big Valley (Walt Tempkins), From Here to Eternity (1965,
pilot), Twilight Zone (David Mitchell, 1964), The Gallent
Men (Gibon, 1962), Redigo (Mike, 1963), The Alamo.
TV
FILMS: Aspen (aka The Innocent and the Damned, Max Kendrick,
1978 miniseries), Killer Bees (Dr. Helmut VanBohlem, 1974),
River of Gold (Marcus McAllister, 1971), The Young Country
(Stephen Foster Moody, 1970), ABC Wide World of Mystery: A
Little Bit of Murder (Jeff).
TV
COMMERCIALS: McDonald's (voice-over), American Express
(voice-over), Nationwide Insurance (voice-over), Chevrolet
Citation, Plymouth (voice-over), Forest Lawn (voice-over),
Salem Cigarettes, Close-Up Toothpaste, Brute Cologne, Canada
Dry, Norelco, Gold Medal Flour (voice-over), Anacin (voice-over),
Red Cross (voice-over), Equitable Life (voice-over), Heinz
Ketchup (voice-over), Mrs. Paul's Yams (voice-over), Armour
Star Bacon (voice-over), Glad Bags (voice-over), Kawasaki
(voice-over), Quiet World (voice-over).
SCREEN:
Beyond The Pale (1998), Bless 'em All, aka The Act (1983),
Ruby (Dr. Keller, 1977), Flash and the Firecat (1975), House
of Dark Shadows (Jeff Clark, 1970), Parachute to Paradise
(1969), Nashville Girl, aka Country Music Daughter (1976),
Ride the Wild Surf (1964), PT 109 (1963).
THEATER:
Alice in Wonderland (Madhatter and White Knight, 1966, NYC),
MacBird! (Ken O' Dunc, 1967-68, NYC).
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