Background
Davis was born in Louisville, Kentucky.
Davis was born in Louisville, Kentucky.
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. Davis first appeared on television in 1962.
He portrayed Private
Roger Gibson in the American Broadcasting Company television series The Gallant Men. In 1963, he co-starred with Richard Egan in the National Broadcasting Company Western drama Redigo, which was the renamed second season of the previous Empire television series, both set on a ranch in New Mexico. 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 1968-1970, 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. 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.
When Pete Duel committed suicide at the end of 1971, Davis replaced him as Hannibal Heyes.
The series subsequently ended in 1973. Competition from National Broadcasting Company"s popular Flip Wilson Show siphoned the show"s ratings. Davis continued to act in guest starring roles on television series throughout the 1970s, as well as the occasional film appearance in movies such as Killer Bees (1974), Nashville Girl (1976) and Ruby (1977), and he has been the voiceover artist for thousands of television and radio commercials.
In 2000 he acted in the film Beyond the Pale.
He regularly participates in Alias Smith and Jones and Dark Shadows festivals and reunions, and, in early 2011, reprised his role of Charles Delaware Tate in a new Dark Shadows play - The Blind Painter. Davis developed land and built luxury homes in southern California until 2010, and owns an interest in movie developer Lonetree Entertainment in Los 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.