Jim Davis (actor)

Jim Davis (born Marlin Davis, August 26, 1909 – April 26, 1981) was an American actor, best known for his role as Jock Ewing in the CBS prime-time soap opera, Dallas, a role which continued until he was too ill from a terminal illness to perform.

Jim Davis
Jim Davis in Winter Meeting (1948)
Born	Marlin Davis (1909-08-26)August 26, 1909 Edgerton, Missouri, U.S.
Died	April 26, 1981(1981-04-26) (aged 71) Northridge, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1942–1981
Spouse(s)	Blanche Hammerer ( m. 1949)
Children	1

Jim Davis and Mary Castle in TV's Stories of the Century (1954)

Life and career

Born in Edgerton in Platte County in northwestern Missouri, Davis attended high school in Dearborn, and the Baptist-affiliated William Jewell College in Liberty. At WJC, he played end on the football team and graduated with a degree in political science.[1] He served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II.[2]

He was known as Jim Davis by the time of his first major screen role, which was opposite Bette Davis in the 1948 melodrama Winter Meeting,[3]. His subsequent film career consisted of mostly B movies, many of them Westerns, although he made an impression as a U.S. Senator in the Warren Beatty conspiracy thriller The Parallax View.

In the episode "Little Washington" of the syndicated television series Death Valley Days, Davis portrayed Mark Tabor, a U.S. Representative from Nevada with aspirations to become governor of the new state. Collectively, Davis appeared 13 times on Death Valley Days. In 1965, Davis played an historical figure, the wagon master Ezra Meeker, who is abandoned by members of his wagon train, who decided to stop the trip to Oregon instead to prospect for gold in the episode "Devil's Gate".[4] In 1967, Davis was cast as the freighter Luke Campbell of Deadwood, South Dakota, in the episode "The Day They Stole the Salamander", a reference to a Salamander Safe.[5] In 1969, Davis played Colonel William G. Butler (1831–1912), who takes revenge on the since ghost town of Helena, Texas, after its citizens refuse to disclose the killer of Butler's son, Emmett. Butler arranges for the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway to bypass Helena; instead Karnes City, south of San Antonio, became the seat of government of Karnes County.[6]

In 1954–1955, Davis starred and narrated the syndicated Western anthology television series Stories of the Century. He portrayed Matt Clark, a detective for the Southwest Railroad who works to bring notorious gunfighters and outlaws to justice. His costars were Mary Castle and Kristine Miller. Stories of the Century was the first Western series to win an Emmy Award. Among the historical figures featured were John Wesley Hardin, Sam Bass, Doc Holliday, the Dalton Brothers, the Younger Brothers, Belle Starr, Joaquin Murietta, L. H. Musgrove, and Clay Allison.

From 1958-1960, Davis starred as Wes Cameron opposite Lang Jeffries in the role of Skip Johnson in the syndicated adventure series Rescue 8. About this time, he guest-starred on the syndicated crime drama, U.S. Marshal, starring John Bromfield.

Davis made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, as George Tabor in the season-six episode of "The Case of the Fickle Filly", and as murder victim Joe Farrell in the 1964, season-eight episode of "The Case of a Place Called Midnight". He also appeared on the Jack Lord adventure series, Stoney Burke. In 1964, Davis played Wyatt Earp in the episode "After the OK Corral" on Death Valley Days; William Tannen played the part of rancher and gunfighter Ike Clanton in the same episode.

Davis appeared 11 times on Gunsmoke and four times each on Daniel Boone, Wagon Train, and Laramie. In the next-to-the-last Laramie episode, entitled "Trapped" (May 14, 1963), he guest-starred with Tommy Sands, Claude Akins, and Mona Freeman.[7] In the story line, Slim Sherman (John Smith) finds an injured female kidnap victim in the woods (Freeman). Dennis Holmes, as series-regular Mike Williams, rides away to seek help, but the kidnappers reclaim the hostage. Slim pursues the kidnappers, but is mistaken as a third kidnapper by the girl's father (Barton MacLane). Sands plays the girl's boyfriend, who had been ordered by her father to stop seeing her.[8] Davis also appeared in an episode of The High Chaparral and in small roles in the 1971 John Wayne vehicles Rio Lobo (1970) and Big Jake (1971).

In 1974, he starred as Marshal Bill Winter in a short-lived ABC Western series The Cowboys, based on a 1972 film of the same name starring John Wayne.

Dallas and last years

After years of relatively low-profile roles, Davis was cast as family patriarch Jock Ewing on Dallas, which debuted in 1978.

During season four, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, but continued to film the show as long as he could. In many scenes as the season progressed, he was shown seated, and his voice became softer and more obviously affected by his illness. He also wore a wig during the season's latter episodes to conceal his hair loss from chemotherapy.

A season-four storyline regarding the Takapa development and Jock's separation from Miss Ellie was ended abruptly near the end of the season. The writers depicted the couple suddenly leaving to go on an extended second honeymoon in Europe when Davis obviously could no longer continue to work. Their departure in a limousine in the episode "New Beginnings" was Davis' only scene in that episode, and his condition was so poor that close watching reveals (based on his unsynchronized lip movement) that he overdubbed his one last line of dialogue. It was his final appearance on the show; he was absent from the final two episodes of season four.

He died of complications from his illness while season four was being aired.

The decision had already been made prior to Davis' death not to recast the character with another actor.[9] Furthermore, after he died the producers strongly considered leaving his name and photos in the opening credits for the duration of the series.[10]

The Jock Ewing character remained alive off-screen after Davis' death for the last two episodes of season four and the first 11 episodes of season five.

The season five storyline was that Jock and Ellie stopped briefly in Washington, D.C. on their way home to Dallas from their second honeymoon so that Jock could take care of some Ewing Oil-related legislative business. While they were there, the State Department asked Jock to go to South America to drill for oil, and Jock relished the opportunity to relive his wildcatting days, when he first made his fortune in Texas during the Depression. Ellie returned to Dallas, and she and other characters were occasionally shown speaking to him on the telephone when he would call from South America to check on the family.

The fifth-season episode "The Search", which confirmed the character's death in a helicopter crash on his way home to Dallas from South America, was broadcast on January 8, 1982, and contained flashback scenes of the character.[11][12]

A portrait of Davis in his role as Jock Ewing often appeared as a memorial on Dallas after his death.

Personal life

In 1949, after two short failed marriages, he met Blanche Hammerer (1918–2009) at the club "Mocambo" on the Sunset Strip, to whom he was married for more than 30 years.[13]

Their only child was a daughter named Tara Diane Davis (January 15, 1953 – February 9, 1970), who was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 17. Davis later became close to his Dallas co-star Victoria Principal, who had a physical resemblance to his late daughter Tara.[14]

Death

Davis died at his home in Northridge, California on April 26, 1981, aged 71.[1] He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.[15]

Recognition

In February 1960, having already appeared as a guest star on 50 episodes across 20 different television series and having been the series lead of both Stories of the Century and Rescue 8, Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6290 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California.[16]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1942	Cairo	Sergeant	Uncredited
1942	Northwest Rangers	Mountie	Uncredited
1942	Keep 'Em Sailing	Joseph Cummins	Short film
1942	White Cargo	Seaplane Pilot	Uncredited
1942	Tennessee Johnson	Reporter	Uncredited
1942	Stand By for Action	Talker	Uncredited
1943	Three Hearts for Julia	Daily Globe Staff Member	Uncredited
1943	Pilot #5	Military Policeman	Uncredited
1943	Salute to the Marines	Private Saunders	Uncredited
1943	Swing Shift Maisie	Investigator	Uncredited
1945	What Next, Corporal Hargrove?	Sgt. Hill
1946	Up Goes Maisie	Matthews	Uncredited
1946	Gallant Bess	Harry
1947	The Beginning or the End	Pilot at Tinian
1947	The Romance of Rosy Ridge	Badge Dessark
1947	Merton of the Movies	Von Strutt's Assistant	Uncredited
1947	The Fabulous Texan	Sam Bass
1948	Winter Meeting	Slick Novak
1949	Red Stallion in the Rockies	Dave Ryder
1949	Hellfire	Gyp Stoner
1949	Yes Sir, That's My Baby	Joe Tascarelli
1949	Brimstone	Nick Courteen
1950	The Savage Horde	Lt. Mike Baker
1950	Hi-Jacked	Joe Harper
1950	The Cariboo Trail	Bill Miller
1950	The Showdown	Cochran
1950	California Passage	Lincoln Corey
1951	Three Desperate Men	Fred Denton
1951	Oh! Susanna	Ira Jordan
1951	Cavalry Scout	Lt. Spaulding
1951	Little Big Horn	Cpl. Doan Moylan
1951	Silver Canyon	Wade McQuarrie
1951	The Sea Hornet	Tony Sullivan
1952	Rose of Cimarron	Willie Whitewater
1952	Woman of the North Country	Steve Powell
1952	The Big Sky	Streak
1952	Ride the Man Down	Red Courteen
1953	Bandit Island	Brad Bellows	Short film
1953	Woman They Almost Lynched	Cole Younger
1953	The President's Lady	Jason Robards	Uncredited
1954	Jubilee Trail	Silky
1954	The Big Chase	Brad Bellows
1954	The Outcast	Major Linton Cosgrave
1954	The Outlaw's Daughter	Marshal Dan Porter
1954	Hell's Outpost	Sam Horne
1955	Timberjack	Poole
1955	The Last Command	Ben Evans
1955	The Vanishing American	Glendon
1955	Last of the Desperados	Chief Deputy John Poe
1956	The Bottom of the Bottle	George Cady
1956	The Wild Dakotas	Aaron Baring
1956	The Maverick Queen	The Stranger / Jeff Younger
1956	Blonde Bait	Nick Randall	Uncredited (USA version)
1956	Frontier Gambler	Tony Burton
1957	Duel at Apache Wells	Dean Cannary
1957	The Quiet Gun	Ralph Carpenter
1957	The Badge of Marshal Brennan	Jeff Harlan / The Stranger
1957	Monster from Green Hell	Dr. Quent Brady
1957	The Restless Breed	Newton
1957	The Last Stagecoach West	Bill Cameron
1957	Apache Warrior	Ben Ziegler
1957	Raiders of Old California	Captain Angus Clyde McKane
1958	The Toughest Gun in Tombstone	Johnny Ringo
1958	Wolf Dog	Jim Hughes
1958	Flaming Frontier	Col. Hugh Carver
1958	A Lust to Kill	Marshal Matt Gordon
1959	Alias Jesse James	Frank James
1960	Noose for a Gunman	Case Britton
1960	The Magnificent Seven	Gunman	Uncredited
1961	Frontier Uprising	Jim Stockton
1961	The Gambler Wore a Gun	Case Silverthorne
1964	Iron Angel	Sgt. Walsh
1965	Zebra in the Kitchen	Adam Carlyle
1966	Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter	Marshal MacPhee
1966	El Dorado	Jim Purvis (Bart Jason's foreman)
1967	Fort Utah	Scarecrow
1967	Border Lust
1968	The Road Hustlers	Noah Reedy
1968	They Ran for Their Lives	Vince Ballard
1969	The Ice House	Jake
1970	Five Bloody Graves	Clay Bates
1970	Monte Walsh	Cal Brennan
1970	Rio Lobo	Riley
1971	Vanished	Capt. Cooledge	TV Movie
1971	Big Jake	Head of the Lynching Party
1971	Dracula vs. Frankenstein	Sgt. Martin
1971	The Trackers	Sheriff Naylor	TV Movie
1972	The Honkers	Sheriff Potter
1972	Bad Company	Marshal
1973	One Little Indian	Trail Boss
1973	Deliver Us from Evil	Dixie	TV Movie
1974	The Parallax View	George Hammond
1974	Inferno in Paradise	Rocky Stratton
1975	Satan's Triangle	Hal Bancroft	TV Movie
1975	The Runaway Barge	Capt. Buckshot Bates	TV Movie
1976	Law of the Land	Sheriff Pat Lambrose	TV Movie
1977	The Legend of Frank Woods	Deputy
1977	Enigma	Colonel Valentine	TV Movie
1977	Just a Little Inconvenience	Dave Erickson	TV Movie
1977	The Choirboys	Capt. Drobeck
1978	Killing Stone	Sen. Barry Tyler	TV Movie
1978	Comes a Horseman	Julie Blocker
1979	The Day Time Ended	Grant Williams
1981	Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige	Mr. Wilkenson	TV Movie (final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951–1954	Fireside Theatre	Col. Streeter Luther Wesley Dean	9 episodes
1952	Dangerous Assignment	Bill Norton Walter Norton Lt. Makam Holcomb Guard	5 episodes
1952	Gang Busters	Capt. Bob Stewart	Episode: "The Barrow Gang"
1952	The Unexpected	Detective	Episode: "Leopards in Lighting"
1952–1953	Cowboy G-Men	Tom Owens Sheriff Jack Wardlow Wilson Dance / Shafer Henchman	Episode: "Running Iron" Episode: "Silver Shotgun" Episode: "Stolen Dynamite" Episode: "Double Crossed"
1953–1969	Death Valley Days	Pony Cragin Luke Campbell Manly The Sheriff Col. William Butler	10 episodes
1954–1955	Stories of the Century	Matt Clark	39 episodes
1955	Cavalcade of America	J. L. Armstrong	Episode: "The Texas Rangers"
1957	The Millionaire	Jim Driskill	Episode: "The Jim Driskill Story"
1957	Playhouse 90	Sheriff	Episode: "Four Women in Black"
1957–1958	The Silent Service	Walter Ruhe	Episode: "Boomerang" Episode: "Cargo for Crevalle" Episode: "The Sea Devil Attacks Puget Sound"
1957 1961 1962	Tales of Wells Fargo	Al Porter Sam Horne Jonus Sawyer	Episode: "Two Cartridges" Episode: "The Lobo" Episode: "Don't Wake a Tiger"
1958	26 Men	Father Diego	Episode: "The Bells of St. Thomas"
1958	M Squad	Harry Evans / Mickey Seville	Episode: "The Case of the Double Face"
1958–1960	Rescue 8	Wes Cameron	78 episodes
1958 1960	General Electric Theater	Fitz Cole Treuitt	Episode: "The Castaway" Episode: "Journey to a Wedding"
1959	U.S. Marshal	Harvey Granger	Episode: "Federal Agent"
1959	Yancy Derringer	Bullet Pike	Episode: "Two Tickets to Promontory"
1960	Markham	Neal Holland	Episode: "The Snowman"
1960	The Tall Man	Bob Orringer	Episode: "Forty-Dollar Boots" Episode: "The Lonely Star"
1960 1962–1963	Laramie	Hake Ballard Ben McKittrick Joe Jim Genoway	Episode: "Trail Drive" Episode: "Shadow of the Past" Episode: "The Dispossessed" Episode: "Trapped"
1960 1962 1963 1964	Wagon Train	Gabe Henry Dan Ryan Clyde Hubble Rudd Basham	Episode: "The Candy O'Hara Story" Episode: "The Eve Newhope Story" Episode: "The Jim Whitlow Story" Episode: "The Melanie Craig Story"
1961	Manhunt	Catlin Otto	Episode: "Kidnapped" Episode: "The Guest of Honor
1961	The Deputy	Trace Phelan	Episode: "The Lonely Road"
1961	Coronado 9	Barton Kincaid	Episode: "Gone Goose"
1961	Outlaws	Steed	Episode: "The Brothers"
1961	Gunslinger	Jeb Crane	Episode: "New Savannah"
1961	The Aquanauts	Sam Hogarth	Episode: "The Diana Adventure"
1961	Whispering Smith	Sam Chandler	Episode: "The Homeless Wind"
1961 1965 1968	Bonanza	Sam Wolfe Johnny Sam Butler	Episode: "The Gift" Episode: "Lothario Larkin" Episode: "The Arrival of Eddie"
1962	Thriller	The Marshal	Episode: "'Til Death Do Us Part"
1962	Lassie	Ed Bates	Episode: "Quick Brown Fox"
1962	Stoney Burke	Shep Winters	Episode: "Cousin Eunice"
1962	Have Gun – Will Travel	Al Long	Episode: "The Treasure"
1962 1964	Perry Mason	George Tabor Joe Farrell	Episode: "The Case of the Fickle Filly" Episode: "The Case of a Place Called Midnight"
1962 1965	Rawhide	Sheriff Sam Jason	Episode: "The Greedy Town" Episode: "The Pursuit"
1963	The Donna Reed Show	Red	Episode: "Pioneer Woman"
1963	Alcoa Premiere	Tim	Episode: "Jenny Ray"
1964	The Littlest Hobo	Danny Kilgarren	Episode: "Double-Cross"
1965	The Lucy Show	Cardenas	Episode: "Lucy Goes to Vegas"
1965	Laredo	Sheriff Wes Cottrell	Episode: "The Golden Trail"
1965 1966	Branded	Malachi Murdock Wheeler James Swaney	Episode: "One Way Out" Episode: "Salute the Soldier Briefly" Episodes: "The Assassins: Part 1 & 2"
1966	The Time Tunnel	Col. Jim Bowie	Episode: "The Alamo"
1966 1967 1969	Daniel Boone	Carpenter Sam Ralston Scud Tumbrill Rafe Carson	Episode: "River Passage" Episode: "The Ordeal of Israel Boone" Episode: "A Pinch of Salt" Episode: "The Road to Freedom"
1967	Hondo	Krantz	Episode: "Hondo and the Eagle Claw" Episode: "Hondo and the War Cry" Episode: "Hondo and the War Hawks"
1966–1974	Gunsmoke	Wes Cameron Sheriff Shackwood Amos Carver Dave Carpenter Luke Rumbaugh	11 episodes
1967	Cimarron Strip	Clo Vardeman	Episode: "The Search"
1968	The Guns of Will Sonnett	Sheriff Hawks	Episode: "The Warriors"
1968	The Virginian	McKinley	Episode: "The Heritage"
1970	The High Chaparral	Robbins	Episode: "New Hostess in Town"
1971	The Men from Shiloh	Roper	Episode: "The Politician"
1972	Night Gallery	Abe Bennett	Episode: "The Waiting Room"
1972	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Peter Merlino	Episode: "Discovery at Fourteen"
1972	The Sixth Sense	Anson Beige	Episode: "Echo of a Distant Scream"
1972	The F.B.I.	Ellis Bengston	Episode: "The Runner"
1972	The Wonderful World of Disney	Col. Porter	Episode: "The High Flying Spy" Part 1
1973	Cannon	Henry Rawdon	Episode: "The Seventh Grave"
1973	Kung Fu	Joe Walker Sheriff Grogan	Episode: "The Soul is the Warrior" Episode: "The Well"
1973	Banacek	Ed McKay	Episode: "If Max is So Smart, Why Doesn't He Tell Us Where He Is?"
1973 1974	The Streets of San Francisco	Reid Bradshaw Roy Johnson	Episode: "Shattered Image" Episode: "The Hard Breed"
1974	The Cowboys	Marshal Bill Winter	12 episodes
1975	Caribe	David Mayfield	Episode: "Lady Killer"
1976	The Blue Knight	Daniels	Episode: "Death Echo"
1976	The Quest	Marshal Pulman	Episode: "Prairie Woman"
1977	The Oregon Trail	J. D. Price	Episode: "Evan's Vendetta"
1977	Hunter	Raymond Spencer	Episode: "The Hit"
1978	Project U.F.O.	Earl Clay	Episode: "Sighting 4002: The Joshua Flats Incident"
1979	The Wonderful World of Disney	Pop Apling	Episode: "Trail of Danger" Parts 1 & 2
1978–1981	Dallas	Jock Ewing	77 episodes (final TV role)

References

1. "Actor Jim Davis dies at age 72 (sic); played patriarch on TV's 'Dallas'". Chicago Tribune. April 27, 1981. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
2. "LED EWINGS IN DALLAS'". The New York Times. April 27, 1981.
3. Rowan, Terry (2015). Who's Who In Hollywood!. Lulu.com. p. 90. ISBN 9781329074491. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
4. "Devil's Gate on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Database. December 23, 1965. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
5. "The Day They Stole the Salamander on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Data Base. April 28, 1967. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
6. "The Oldest Law on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
7. "Laramie: "Trapped", May 14, 1963". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
8. "Laramie: "Trapped", May 14, 1963". tv.com. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
9. "'Dallas' Won't Replace Jim Davis," reported by the Associated Press and published in the New York Times, April 28, 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/28/theater/dallas-won-t-replace-jim-davis.html Retrieved February 18, 2019.
10. Video interview with Steve Kanaly from 1981: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CqrgO4v48Y Retrieved April 7, 2019.
11. "Dallas Episode Guide Season Four with Larry Hagman and Linda Gray". Ultimatedallas.com. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
12. "Dallas: The Search for Jock". Youtube.com. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
13. "Blanche meet Jim Davis 1949'". www.JimDavis.de. 1982.
14. Jim Davis, NNDb.com, Retrieved November 25, 2012.
15. Getty Images
16. "Jim Davis". Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1960-02-08. Retrieved 2020-03-18.

External links

• Jim Davis Memorial Page
• Jim Davis on IMDb
• Jim Davis at Find a Grave