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 ...
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1 | Involved in real estate in Los Angeles. Currently developing home sites called Viewmont North in the Hollywood Hills. [2003] |
2 | Roger Davis attended Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, USA. |
3 | Attended Columbia University, where he took architecture courses as an undergraduate. This education has come in handy in his second career as a real estate developer and builder. |
4 | Roger Davis appeared as the lead in "The Young Country (1970) which was televised as an ABC Movie of the Week as a pilot for a possible new series. His co-star was his friend, Pete Duel, a Universal Studios contract player who was cast as the second lead. The pilot was not picked up. ABC did pick up the "Alias Smith and Jones" pilot in a series concept which paid homage to the smash hit Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), starring Duel as a character inspired by Paul Newman's Butch Cassidy. Universal Studios contract player Ben Murphy, was chosen as Duel's co-star, with Universal pushing Murphy for the role as some thought he resembled Newman. A successful voice-over artiste as well as actor, Davis narrated the opening of each "Alias Smith and Jones" episode with Duel and Murphy and appeared as an actor in one episode, Alias Smith and Jones: Smiler with a Gun (1971). Davis's character Danny Bilson was the only person ever killed by Murphy's character, "Kid Curry", a reformed gunslinger inspired by Robert Redford's character, "The Sundance Kid". (Kid Curry was an actual member of Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang, also known as The Wild Bunch.) After Duel died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the morning of December 31, 1971, Davis was hired to replace him. He was replaced as narrator, in the episodes he starred in, by Ralph Story. |
5 | Davis played Robert E. Lee Prewitt in the 1966 pilot for From Here to Eternity (1980), which was not picked up. The TV movie made as the pilot from James Jones's classic novel has never been seen on American television. Thirteen years later, "From Here to Eternity (1953)" -- the big screen adaptation of which had won the Oscar as Best Picture of 1953 -- made it to the small screen as a TV movie and was picked up as a series for the 1980 season. |
6 | Davis is credited with "And Introducing Roger Davis as Stephen Foster Moody" in the opening credits of The Young Country (1970), the original of two pilots for Alias Smith and Jones (1971). The credit was unusual as Davis had been appearing regularly on television (as well as in movies) for eight years, including recurring roles on two TV series in the early 1960s, and had been a regular on the popular day-time soap Dark Shadows (1966) for the previous two years. The pilot, which was featured as a TV Movie of the Week on ABC, co-starred Davis' friend Pete Duel. ABC rejected the pilot. Known for his voice-over work, Davis was subsequently given the job of narrator of "Alias Smith and Jones", a series that paid homage to the movie blockbuster Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), in the first season and a-half, eventually taking over for Duel as "Joshua Smith" after Duel shot himself to death on New Year's Day 1971. |
7 | Davis first attracted attention on TV in the late 1960s playing multiple characters on the daytime gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966). |
8 | In 1971, he narrated the title sequence voice-over for the comedy western TV series Alias Smith and Jones (1971), starring Pete Duel as "Hannibal Heyes/Joshua Smith" and Ben Murphy as "Kid Curry/Thaddeus Jones". Roger also guest-starred in one of the episodes (Alias Smith and Jones: Smiler with a Gun (1971)) as gunfighter "Danny Bilson". His Bilson character has the distinction of being the only character Kid Curry was driven to kill during the series. When star Pete Duel committed suicide during the Christmas holiday season of 1971, Davis replaced him as Hannibal Heyes. However, after Davis completed just seventeen episodes, the series was canceled the next season in 1973. |
9 | Owns an interest in movie developer Lonetree Entertainment in Los Angeles. |
10 | An accomplished designer and real estate developer, his achievements include construction and restoration of hotels, high-rises and 18th century mansions. |
11 | In July 2006, he and his Alias Smith and Jones (1971) costar, Ben Murphy, were guests at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, North Carolina along with Marjorie Lord, Mark Goddard, Steve Kanaly, Ronnie Schell, Coleen Gray, Russ Tamblyn, Tom Reese, and Cheryl Rogers. |
12 | He replaced Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes on the TV series Alias Smith and Jones (1971) following Duel's suicide in December 1971. George Peppard was also in the running for the part of Hannibal Heyes. |
Title | Year | Status | Character |
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Beyond the Pale | 2000 | | Jeffrey |
NightMan | 1998 | TV Series | Dr. Bauman |
Tex Murphy: Overseer | 1998 | Video Game | Robert Knott |
Chameleons | 1989 | TV Movie | |
Matlock | 1989 | TV Series | Joshua Bradbury |
The Highwayman | 1988 | TV Series | Chief Jim Tounsend |
The Act | 1984 | | Deputy Police Chief |
Galactica 1980 | 1980 | TV Series | Andromus |
Wonder Woman | 1977 | TV Series | Jack Corbin |
Aspen | 1977 | TV Mini-Series | Max Kendrick |
Ruby | 1977 | | Dr. Paul Keller |
Quincy M.E. | 1977 | TV Series | Dr. Paul Taggart |
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | 1977 | TV Series | Sonny |
Nashville Girl | 1976 | | Kelly |
The Bionic Woman | 1976 | TV Series | Lt. Col. Tom Hollaway |
Flash and the Firecat | 1975 | | Firecat |
This Is the West That Was | 1974 | TV Movie | Narrator |
The Rockford Files | 1974 | TV Series | Travis Buckman |
The Education of Sonny Carson | 1974 | | Willie |
Firehouse | 1974 | TV Series | Farrell |
Killer Bees | 1974 | TV Movie | Dr. Helmut van Bohlen |
Ironside | 1974 | TV Series | Willie Bonner |
Faraday and Company | 1973 | TV Series | Millgren |
The New Perry Mason | 1973 | TV Series | Larry Vaughn |
McCloud | 1973 | TV Series | Virgil |
The Wide World of Mystery | 1973 | TV Series | Jeff |
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | 1973 | TV Series | |
Alias Smith and Jones | 1971-1973 | TV Series | Narrator / Hannibal Heyes (alias Joshua Smith) / Danny Bilson |
Night Gallery | 1972 | TV Series | George Beaumont (segment "You Can Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan") |
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers | 1970-1972 | TV Series | Jim Lewis / Randy Burroughs |
Parachute to Paradise | 1972 | TV Movie | |
Medical Center | 1971 | TV Series | Bob MacGill / Brad Carter |
River of Gold | 1971 | TV Movie | Marcus McAllister |
Bonanza | 1966-1971 | TV Series | Bert Yates / Harold Stanley |
The Most Deadly Game | 1970 | TV Series | Tod Masters |
House of Dark Shadows | 1970 | | Jeff Clark |
The Young Country | 1970 | TV Movie | Stephen Foster Moody |
Dark Shadows | 1968-1970 | TV Series | Jeff Clark Peter Bradford Charles Delaware Tate ... |
The Big Valley | 1967 | TV Series | Walt Tompkins |
Dr. Kildare | 1965 | TV Series | Karl Bjorstrand |
Ride the Wild Surf | 1964 | | Charlie |
The Twilight Zone | 1964 | TV Series | David Mitchell |
Redigo | 1963 | TV Series | Mike |
PT 109 | 1963 | | Radioman (uncredited) |
The Gallant Men | 1962-1963 | TV Series | Roger Gibson |
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