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Roger
Davis 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
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.
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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