Biography for
David Selby More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

5 February 1941, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

Birth Name

David Lynn Selby

Height

6' 3" (1.91 m)

Mini Biography

Actor David Selby, highly regarded for his villainous work on both daytime and nighttime soap classics, was born in Morgantown, West Virginia. He attended West Virginia University and graduated with both B.S. and M.A. degrees from West Virginia University, then earned a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Following many years on the stock stage (from 1961), David finally attracted infamous attention when he signed on as Quentin Collins, a werewolf, on the gothic daytime drama "Dark Shadows" in 1968. He inherited heartthrob status briefly with the role and even recorded two songs during the show's run, "Quentin's Theme" and "I Wanna Dance With You." After the series' demise, he made his movie debut with Night of Dark Shadows (1971), the second film based on the cult series. He broached top film stardom in the early 1970s after co-starring with Barbra Streisand in Up the Sandbox (1972) and Ron Leibman in The Super Cops (1974), and continued his high-profiled pace with New York theatre productions of "The Heiress" (1976), with Jane Alexander and Richard Kiley, and "Eccentricities of a Nightingale" (1976) with Betsy Palmer, but things didn't quite pan out. In the 1980s, however, steady TV work helped put an extra shot of adrenalin back into David's career, notably as the cunning Richard Channing on the nighttime soap "Falcon Crest," a role he played from 1982 until 1990. David has graced most of the popular series over the years including "The Waltons," "Police Woman," "Kojak," "Family," "Touched by an Angel," and "Ally McBeal." He has also appeared sporadically in white-collar film support with roles in Dying Young (1991), White Squall (1996) and Surviving Christmas (2004) to his credit. David continues to perform on stage as well. He portrayed Abraham Lincoln in his own play "Lincoln and James" in 1997 and 1998, and penned the play "Final Assault" which premiered in 2003. He is a staple player in radio drama with the L.A. Theatre Works these days. David and longtime wife Chip have three children.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Spouse

Claudeis Newman

(10 August 1963 - present) 3 children

Trivia

Named his son, Jamison Selby, after a character on Dark Shadows.

David Selby holds a PhD. in Theater from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Acted for Theatre West Virginia's 'Honey in the Rock' in 1961.

Played the only man, other than her husband, to kiss Olivia Walton during the entire run of The Waltons.

He has written two volumes of poetry "My Mother's Autumn" and "Happenstance." His first book "In and Out of the Shadows" is a career photo retrospective featuring a few of his poems.

Long married (over forty years) to wife Chip, who is also a native West Virginian, they have two daughters and a son, Jamison Selby, who is also an actor. He directed David's play "Final Assault" in Charleston, West Virginia in 2003. David and Chip ran a summer children's musical theatre in New York for ten years before moving to Los Angeles.

He is an honorary member of the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center's Advisory Board, has worked with the Governor's Honor Academy, and has made many guest appearances around the state of West Virginia. In 1989, he was honored as a distinguished alumnus of West Virginia University, and, in May 1992, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Communications and Fine Arts at Southern Illinois University. He was given the first Life Achievement Award from the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts in 1998, and he received an honorary doctorate from West Virginia University in 2004.

Quentin Collins, his Dark Shadows character, had his own theme song, "Quentin's Theme (Shadows of the Night)." Selby provided a spoken recitation of the lyrics on the original Dark Shadows soundtrack album. In the 1980s, he sang the lyrics during an appearance on Joan Rivers' late night talk show. On Dark Shadows, the instrumental version was played repeatedly on Quentin Collins' gramophone. The song is often played to introduce David Selby during television and radio interviews and during public appearances.

He is among the 2007 inductees into the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame, located in the Museum of Radio and Technology in Huntington, West Virginia.

Best known by the public for his role as Richard Channing on "Falcon Crest" (1981).

Had turned down the role of Gary Ewing on "Knots Landing" (1979).

Shares the same birthday with producer Stephen J. Cannell.

Acting mentor was Jane Wyman.

Personal Quotes

I think family is very important in West Virginia and has long been so because the mountains made travel difficult in the past, and family members had to depend on each other.

[on differentiating 2 separate "Falcon Crest" (1981) characters, and of his on- and off-screen friendship with Jane Wyman, who played Angela Channing]: They fought each other on, and they delighted it. They relished those fights; and boy, we could do it! I loved Jane Wyman, she epitomized for me, everything that meant to be professional.

[When "Tell Me You Love Me" (2007) was expecting to be canceled]: But I had no idea that they were going to pull the plug so quickly.

I did a lot of personal appearances because I was under contract to ABC.

[on his "Falcon Crest" (1981) character]: Richard Channing is a wonderful character. He was a strong character. He could go out of various situations.

[When responded about how he got along well with the "Falcon Crest" (1981) cast, esp. Jane Wyman, who played Angela Channing]: All of the people. I enjoyed working with all of them. Jane Wyman, Jane was wonderful,... Susan Sullivan, so many of the people... and I got to play with so many, like Kim Novak, some of the old stars, Lana Turner, Gina Lollobrigida, Leslie Caron. It was quite wonderful.

[Of "Falcon Crest" (1981)'s downfall, beginning in 1988]: I think what happened in this show is there were too many changes of producers and writers. Now that is my opinion. And they lost focus. Another person comes in and has an idea: 'Well, I think the show should go in this direction or in that direction,' - whatever. I don't know; maybe, the ratings of that time demanded changes. Of course, now they [the network] would love to have the ratings [of that time]! I obviously did not like her [Susan's] being written off the show. And there were several instances like that. So in a way, I thought the show lost focus the last season, maybe the last couple of years. Especially the last season went into a totally different direction.

I liked the idea that Channing had found some kind of peace in his life and that he was able to make the turn - towards the light, I mean you have a choice, you have a life. We all do. And you have to pay attention to those choices - architecture, lawyer, whatever those choices come to you along the way in your life, you have to consider all right because we are all responsible for our choices, and Channing, at that point, made the choice. And I think his life may have not been as exciting, but in some aspects, maybe, he relished that because he knew that somebody loved him. I liked that aspect because that means that he had come full circle... He had gone through various... you know, gone through life and come out to say, well, as we all do, 'Life has its whatever,' but... he knows. So from that aspect, yes, [I liked the finale]. The other aspect of it - I think, of course, everyone knew that was going to be the last season. And it wasn't..., there was no sadness or anything like that simply because that particular show had run its course in a sense, though, that - I think - to a certain degree it had lost direction... as a way to go. Jane Wyman wasn't happy, and nobody was, you know. So in that regard, you know, and with the changes the company was going through, Lorimar...

[When describing the elements that were pictured on "Falcon Crest" (1981), as well as "Dynasty" (1981), "Dallas" (1978) and "Knots Landing" (1979)]: And that's the '80s! It's sort of a... an example - no, I think 'example' is not the right proper word - it is 'of its time', and it says something about the '80s, you know.

[Of his on- and off-screen chemistry with the "Falcon Crest" (1981) stars]: My memories of that, you know, I loved Jane Wyman, Susan Sullivan, Margaret Ladd. I talked to Lorenzo Lamas about three months ago on the phone; he was getting ready to do another series, as I recall.

[Of Jane Wyman]: I supposed a little reserved, but she had a great laugh, we loved to have fun. She was the consummate professional. She never, ever missed... the only time she ever missed being there, when you're doing close-ups or whatever, when the other actors standing next to the camera, or whatever, doing their lines. The one time that she was asked to be excused was she had to go to the hospital. She never missed - she was always there on time, always early and she didn't caught up in a lot of nonsense and all that stuff. She was there to get the job done.

Where Are They Now

(February 2003) Helping cast in the play he wrote - 'Final Assault'.

(November 2003) On location in Springfield, Missouri, filming role in upcoming film with working title "Larva."

(May 2004) Delivering the commencement address and receiving an honorary doctorate from West Virginia University.

(November 2004) Filming scenes for the SCI FI Channel movie Black Hole on location in St. Louis, Missouri.

(February 2005) Begins filming End Game in late February in Spokane, Washington. Will be appearing in Spokane at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers Eastside on March 3.

(April 2005) Filming scenes for motion picture "Unknown."

(June 2005) Appeared at Barnes & Noble bookstores in North Miami and Orlando to read from and sign copies of My Mother's Autumn, his collection of poems dealing with the loss of his mother.

(July 2005) Appeared at the Dark Shadows Hollywood Weekend held at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel on July 29-31.

(October 2005) Making appearances in West Virginia to promote his latest book, A Better Place.

(August 2006) Appeared at the "Dark Shadows" 40th Anniversary Celebration held at the Brooklyn Marriott.

(September 2006) Filming a recurring role as Arthur on the upcoming HBO series "Tell Me You Love Me."

(May 2006) Reprised his Dark Shadows role of Quentin Collins in four new CD Dark Shadows audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions.

(October 2006) Appeared in costume as Quentin Collins to recite the words to "Quentin's Theme" at the Dark Shadows 40th Anniversary Haunted Halloween Party at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

(September 2007) Photographed arriving at HBO's Emmy after-party with wife Chip.

(October 2007) Making personal appearances in Canton, Ohio to promote a production of Final Assault, a play he wrote, at the Players Guild Theatre.

(April 2008) Recording the radio drama "The Highest Tide" in Los Angeles for BBC Radio.

(June 2008) Appearing in the LA Theatre Works presentation of Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke."

(July 2008) Appearing at the "Dark Shadows" Festival at the Burbank Airport Marriott to present his novel, "Lincoln's Better Angel."

(September 2008) Made several appearances at bookstores on the East Coast to promote his novel, Lincoln's Better Angel.

(February 2009) Portraying Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in "The Heavens Are Hung in Black"

(January 2010) Filming scenes for "Social Network" in Los Angeles.

(April 2010) Participating in panel discussion at Smithsonian's National Museum of American History - "From Man to Myth: Abraham Lincoln Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow"

(May 2010) A Celebration of Stories presented by Speaking of Stories at the Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara, California.

(June 2010) FestivALL, a 10-day-long annual event held in the city of Charleston, West Virginia, featuring music, theater, dance, visual art and family entertainment. David Selby was among the West Virginia writers presenting readings at an event titled In Our Own Words. The Charleston Stage Company presented a staged reading of David Selby's latest play, An Appalachia Tragedy.

(July 2010) Dark Shadows Festival's Dark Shadows in the Sun cast reunion and fan convention at the Burbank Airport Marriott in California.

(June 2011) Washington, DC, USA: Participating in Ford's Theatre Society Gala