Roger Davis(II)
- Actor
Roger Davis is an actor, producer and voice-over artist, who is most
remembered for taking over the role of Hannibal Heyes (a.k.a. Joshua
Smith) in the TV series,
Alias Smith and Jones (1971),
from his friend, Pete Duel, after Duel died of
a self-inflicted gunshot wound while intoxicated.
His assumption of the role was rather fitting, as he had
appeared in an ABC Movie of the Week under the title,
The Young Country (1970),
his co-star being Duel, a Universal Studios contract player who was
cast as the second lead. Davis had most recently appeared for two years
(1968-70) as multiple characters on the vampire-themed daytime soap
opera, Dark Shadows (1966).
Before that, he had appeared as a solider in the World War Two-themed
TV series,
The Gallant Men (1962), which
was broadcast in the 1962-63 season, and as a ranch hand in the
short-lived 1963 TV Western series,
Redigo (1963), which was canceled in
the middle of its first season. In 1966, he shot a pilot for a TV
series based on James Jones's
classic WWII novel,
From Here to Eternity (1953),
cast in the pivotal role as "Pvt. Robert E. Lee Pruitt". The series was
not picked up.
Neither was "The Young Country" pilot four years later. ABC did pick up
the "Alias Smith and Jones" pilot as a mid-season replacement in
January 1971. The Alias Smith and Jones pilot concept paid homage to
the smash hit movie,
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969),
and starred Duel as a character inspired by
Paul Newman's
Butch Cassidy. (In the movie,
Butch and Sundance refer to themselves by the aliases Smith and Jones).
Universal Studios contract player
Ben Murphy was selected to play
Duel's partner.
The producers called on Davis' skills as a voice-over artist to narrate
the opening of each "Alias Smith and Jones" episode starring Duel &
Murphy. He also appeared as an actor in the episode
Smiler with a Gun (1971).
Davis was the only person ever killed by Murphy's character, "Kid
Curry", a reformed gunslinger inspired by
Robert Redford's character, "The
Sundance Kid".
Duel died on the morning of Friday, December 31, 1971, before shooting
on the 1971-72 season could be completed. Eighteen episodes had been
completed, and Duel had been working on Episode #19. Shooting with
Murphy continued that Friday and Davis was immediately hired to replace
his friend, thus completing the circle that began with both being
considered for the same role in "Ride the Wild Surf" (1964) and "Love
on a Rooftop"(1966) and continued with their starring together in "The
Young Country". Davis appeared in the final five episodes of Season Two
and all of the 12 episodes in Season Three, when the show was canceled
in mid-season.
"Alias Smith and Jones" was scheduled in two of the most unenviable
time slots in TV history. In its first two seasons, it appeared on
Thursday night opposite "The Flip Wilson Show" (known as
Flip (1970)), the #2 rated show in
America. ABC switched it in the 1972-73 season to Saturday where its
competition was another show that had debuted in January 1971,
All in the Family (1971),
the top-rated program on television and a genuine ratings phenomenon.
From 1971 to 1976, "All in the Family" established a record with five
consecutive seasons as the #1 rated show. "The Flip Wilson
Show" slipped out of the Top 10 to #12 during the 1972-73 season that
would prove to be the last for "Alias Smith and Jones".
Pete Duel publicly blamed the failure of ABC
to pick up
Love on a Rooftop (1966),
the first of the two series in which he played a lead role, to network
politics. ABC did not renew "Love on Rooftop" after its maiden 1966-67
season as another producer wanted the time slot, Duel claimed. Before
his death, he also claimed that after its first season, ABC had
considered moving "Alias Smith and Jones" for the 1971-72 season to
Saturday night in the 8:30-9:30 slot vacated by the canceled
The Lawrence Welk Show (1951),
but left it on Thursday. Duel was disappointed that the network left
his show where it was, as he felt the other slot would be better for
his new series. He was very wrong, as it was the move to Saturday
night, after Duel's death, that killed it.
"All in the Family" had debuted on Tuesday nights at 9:30 and was
ranked #34 in its inaugural half-season. After being switched to
Saturday at 8:00PM in the 1971-72 season (the season ABC had first
considered switching "Alias Smith and Jones" to Saturday), it quickly
ascended to the top of the ratings charts. It would prove a more
formidable adversary than any "Hannibal Heyes" & "Kid Curry" ever met
up with on their show, including "Danny Bilson", the gunman Roger Davis
played in
Smiler with a Gun (1971).
Roger Davis was unfairly blamed for some for the demise of "Alias Smith
and Jones", on the grounds that he was unable to fill Pete Duel's
boots. However, it's doubtful the show could have survived, even with
Duel, as the network unwisely put the show up against the cultural
phenomenon that was "All in the Family". The once popular TV Western
was a dying genre, and in January 1973, the same month ABC ended the
run of "Alias Smith and Jones", NBC pulled the plug on former ratings
blockbuster Bonanza (1959) (three
times the #1 show from 1964 to 1967 and #3 in both the 1968-69 and
1969-70 seasons), which joined "Alias Smith and Jones" in the Happy
Hunting Grounds of canceled TV westerns. That left only
Gunsmoke (1955) to cowboy up until
it, too, left the airwaves in 1975.
Roger Davis continued to appear in guest roles in TV and the occasional
low-budget film throughout the 1970s, but work became sparse in the
'80s. As a voice artist, he has made over 6,000 commercials on TV and
radio. He is a partner in the movie production company, "Lonetree
Entertainment".
Apart from acting, Davis has enjoyed success as a real estate
developer, not only building multi-million-dollar homes in the
Hollywood Hills area but also renovating high-rise buildings, hotels
and mansions. The Louisville, Kentucky native had been married four
times: His first wife was actress
Jaclyn Smith, of
Charlie's Angels (1976)
fame.
remembered for taking over the role of Hannibal Heyes (a.k.a. Joshua
Smith) in the TV series,
Alias Smith and Jones (1971),
from his friend, Pete Duel, after Duel died of
a self-inflicted gunshot wound while intoxicated.
His assumption of the role was rather fitting, as he had
appeared in an ABC Movie of the Week under the title,
The Young Country (1970),
his co-star being Duel, a Universal Studios contract player who was
cast as the second lead. Davis had most recently appeared for two years
(1968-70) as multiple characters on the vampire-themed daytime soap
opera, Dark Shadows (1966).
Before that, he had appeared as a solider in the World War Two-themed
TV series,
The Gallant Men (1962), which
was broadcast in the 1962-63 season, and as a ranch hand in the
short-lived 1963 TV Western series,
Redigo (1963), which was canceled in
the middle of its first season. In 1966, he shot a pilot for a TV
series based on James Jones's
classic WWII novel,
From Here to Eternity (1953),
cast in the pivotal role as "Pvt. Robert E. Lee Pruitt". The series was
not picked up.
Neither was "The Young Country" pilot four years later. ABC did pick up
the "Alias Smith and Jones" pilot as a mid-season replacement in
January 1971. The Alias Smith and Jones pilot concept paid homage to
the smash hit movie,
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969),
and starred Duel as a character inspired by
Paul Newman's
Butch Cassidy. (In the movie,
Butch and Sundance refer to themselves by the aliases Smith and Jones).
Universal Studios contract player
Ben Murphy was selected to play
Duel's partner.
The producers called on Davis' skills as a voice-over artist to narrate
the opening of each "Alias Smith and Jones" episode starring Duel &
Murphy. He also appeared as an actor in the episode
Smiler with a Gun (1971).
Davis was the only person ever killed by Murphy's character, "Kid
Curry", a reformed gunslinger inspired by
Robert Redford's character, "The
Sundance Kid".
Duel died on the morning of Friday, December 31, 1971, before shooting
on the 1971-72 season could be completed. Eighteen episodes had been
completed, and Duel had been working on Episode #19. Shooting with
Murphy continued that Friday and Davis was immediately hired to replace
his friend, thus completing the circle that began with both being
considered for the same role in "Ride the Wild Surf" (1964) and "Love
on a Rooftop"(1966) and continued with their starring together in "The
Young Country". Davis appeared in the final five episodes of Season Two
and all of the 12 episodes in Season Three, when the show was canceled
in mid-season.
"Alias Smith and Jones" was scheduled in two of the most unenviable
time slots in TV history. In its first two seasons, it appeared on
Thursday night opposite "The Flip Wilson Show" (known as
Flip (1970)), the #2 rated show in
America. ABC switched it in the 1972-73 season to Saturday where its
competition was another show that had debuted in January 1971,
All in the Family (1971),
the top-rated program on television and a genuine ratings phenomenon.
From 1971 to 1976, "All in the Family" established a record with five
consecutive seasons as the #1 rated show. "The Flip Wilson
Show" slipped out of the Top 10 to #12 during the 1972-73 season that
would prove to be the last for "Alias Smith and Jones".
Pete Duel publicly blamed the failure of ABC
to pick up
Love on a Rooftop (1966),
the first of the two series in which he played a lead role, to network
politics. ABC did not renew "Love on Rooftop" after its maiden 1966-67
season as another producer wanted the time slot, Duel claimed. Before
his death, he also claimed that after its first season, ABC had
considered moving "Alias Smith and Jones" for the 1971-72 season to
Saturday night in the 8:30-9:30 slot vacated by the canceled
The Lawrence Welk Show (1951),
but left it on Thursday. Duel was disappointed that the network left
his show where it was, as he felt the other slot would be better for
his new series. He was very wrong, as it was the move to Saturday
night, after Duel's death, that killed it.
"All in the Family" had debuted on Tuesday nights at 9:30 and was
ranked #34 in its inaugural half-season. After being switched to
Saturday at 8:00PM in the 1971-72 season (the season ABC had first
considered switching "Alias Smith and Jones" to Saturday), it quickly
ascended to the top of the ratings charts. It would prove a more
formidable adversary than any "Hannibal Heyes" & "Kid Curry" ever met
up with on their show, including "Danny Bilson", the gunman Roger Davis
played in
Smiler with a Gun (1971).
Roger Davis was unfairly blamed for some for the demise of "Alias Smith
and Jones", on the grounds that he was unable to fill Pete Duel's
boots. However, it's doubtful the show could have survived, even with
Duel, as the network unwisely put the show up against the cultural
phenomenon that was "All in the Family". The once popular TV Western
was a dying genre, and in January 1973, the same month ABC ended the
run of "Alias Smith and Jones", NBC pulled the plug on former ratings
blockbuster Bonanza (1959) (three
times the #1 show from 1964 to 1967 and #3 in both the 1968-69 and
1969-70 seasons), which joined "Alias Smith and Jones" in the Happy
Hunting Grounds of canceled TV westerns. That left only
Gunsmoke (1955) to cowboy up until
it, too, left the airwaves in 1975.
Roger Davis continued to appear in guest roles in TV and the occasional
low-budget film throughout the 1970s, but work became sparse in the
'80s. As a voice artist, he has made over 6,000 commercials on TV and
radio. He is a partner in the movie production company, "Lonetree
Entertainment".
Apart from acting, Davis has enjoyed success as a real estate
developer, not only building multi-million-dollar homes in the
Hollywood Hills area but also renovating high-rise buildings, hotels
and mansions. The Louisville, Kentucky native had been married four
times: His first wife was actress
Jaclyn Smith, of
Charlie's Angels (1976)
fame.