They don't come any nicer than John Davidson. The dark-haired,
Pittsburgh-born singer/TV personality, who was born in 1941 and the son
of a Baptist minister, is highly-defined and sometimes cursed by his
clean-cut, fresh-faced, apple-cheeked handsomeness. After graduating
from high school in White Plains, New York, and earning a B.A. in
Theater Arts from Denison University, John took his naturally-gifted
baritone voice to the musical stage. The affable six-footer made his
Broadway bow with Bert Lahr and
Larry Blyden in the short-lived musical,
"Foxy", in 1964 at the Ziegfeld Theater. TV producer
Bob Banner, who discovered such other
formidable talents as Carol Burnett,
Dom DeLuise and
Bob Newhart, caught John in one of his
performances and immediately took him under his wing.
Within a short time, John was moving quickly in the musical fast lane.
On TV, he co-starred as "Matt" in a 1964 Hallmark Hall of Fame
presentation of the classic musical, "The Fantasticks", alongside an
esteemed company that included Mr. Lahr,
Ricardo Montalban,
Stanley Holloway and the lovely
soprano, Susan Watson. He also
appeared as a regular on
The Entertainers (1964), and
grew in stature enough to host
The Kraft Summer Music Hall (1966),
keeping his face and voice consistently front-and-center on the
prime-time variety show circuit. Back on stage, he won a Theater World
Award in 1965 for his role as "Curly" in "Oklahoma!", a part he would
play many times over the years. Demonstrating leading man potential,
John was handed tuneful co-star assignments in the rather antiseptic
Disney movies,
Der glücklichste Millionär (1967)
and
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968),
both featuring the reigning "Cinderella" of the time,
Lesley Ann Warren, but he did not move
ahead in films.
While an overly cute, lightweight image severely hampered his chances
to be taken seriously as a dramatic actor, the bedimpled performer,
nevertheless, made great strides as a full-fledged TV presence in the
1970s. He earned his own daytime talk show,
The John Davidson Show (1969),
and appeared in such mini-movie offerings as
Hilfe, ich habe zwei Ehemänner (1973)
with Karen Valentine. He
co-starred with another eternal cutie at the time,
Sally Field, in
Meiner Frau bleibt nichts verborgen (1973),
playing newlyweds, but the sitcom was unsuccessful. Through the lean
years, John maintained by singing on his own TV Christmas specials and
guesting in episodes of
Love Boat (1977) and
Fantasy Island (1977).
Interest in John, however, slacked off.
It wasn't until the next decade when his career revitalized by hosting
That's Incredible! (1980).
The show's format fit John's buoyant nature to a tee and lasted four
years, alongside co-host
Cathy Lee Crosby. His talent for
self-effacing "straight man" humor showed up first as a
The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965)
regular, then as takeover host of
The New Hollywood Squares (1986),
which lasted several years. He also took over
Dick Clark's emcee post on the
syndicated game show,
The $10,000 Pyramid (1973),
during the 1992-1993 season.
Music, however, has always been John's first passion. In addition to
recording 12 solo albums in both the pop and country music venues, he
plays the guitar and banjo and has sung in English, French and Spanish.
A perennial nightclub and concert favorite, he has starred in many
national tours and stock productions including "The Music Man", "110 in
the Shade", "Paint Your Wagon", "Li'l Abner", "Camelot", "Carousel", "I
Do! I Do!" and "Will Rogers' Follies", among others. He's appeared in
legit plays, including the off-Broadway comedy, "High Infidelity",
opposite both Barbara Eden and
Morgan Fairchild, and, in 1996,
returned to Broadway, after 32 years, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical, "State Fair". Two years later, he was inspired to try out his
one-man show, "Bully", as
Theodore Roosevelt, after playing the
president earlier in the musical, "Teddy and Alice". John has made
sporadic appearances in films, including the disaster epic,
Airport 1980 - Die Concorde (1979),
and
Edward mit den Scherenhänden (1990).
Divorced in 1982 from singer
Jackie Miller, who once was part
of the folk duo, Jackie and Gayle,
after 13 years of marriage and two children, John is currently with
second wife and former backup singer,
Rhonda Davidson (nee Rivera)
(since 1983). Together, they have a child of their own,
Ashleigh Davidson. Most recently, he
appeared with one of his children, Ashleigh, in a 2005 musical
production of "Shenandoah".
