Leading Men Jim Davis
Dallas (TV)/ Jock Ewing
Alias Jesse James/ Frank James
Jubilee Trail/ Silky
The Caribou Trail/ Miller.
Per Quinlan's Film Stars:
Husky, slow speaking, black haired, diffident looking six footer was unsuccessful in a role opposite Bette Davis early in his career and was thereafter confined to leading roles in "B" westerns and supporting parts in bigger features. Middle age seemed to suit him, and he gave some good performances in the 1970's. Later still he became familiar to TV audiences as Jock Ewing of the soap opera Dallas.
He was born Marlin Davis in 1909 at Edgerton, Missouri.
Davis attended Baptist-affiliated William Jewell College in Liberty, MO.
After becoming an actor he changed his name to James Davis and later on he shortened it to Jim Davis.
His first major role was in the 1948 melodrama Winter Meeting opposite Bette Davis. The film was a failure and the critics claimed that he was too inexperienced to properly play the part. Afterwards his leading roles were basically in "B" westerns and other "B" movies.
His biggest claim to fame was in the role of Jock Ewing in the TV prime time soap opera Dallas in which he appeared from 1978 to 1981.
Some of the film roles of Jim Davis were:
Cairo (1942) as Sergeant
Northwest Rangers (1942) as Mountie
White Cargo (1942) as Seaplane Pilot
Pilot #5 (1943) as Military Policeman
Salute To The Marines (1943) as Private Saunders
What Next, Corporal Hargrove ? (1945) as Sgt. Hill
Gallant Bess (1946) as Harry
The Beginning Of The End (1947) as Pilot At Tinian
The Romance Of Rosy Ridge (1947) as Badge Desserk
The Fabulous Texas (1947) as Sam Bass
Winter Meeting (1948) as Slick Novak
Red Stallion In The Rockies (1949) as Dave Ryder
Hellfire (1949) as Gyp Stoner
Yes Sir, That's My Baby (1949) as Joe
Brimstone (1949) as Nick
The Savage Horde (1950) as Lt. Mike Baker
Hi-Jacked (1950) as Joe Harper
The Caribou Trail (1950) as Miller
The Showdown (1950) as Cochran
California Passage (1950) as Lincoln Corey
Three Desperate Men (1951) as Fred Denton
Oh! Susanna (1951) as Ira Jordan
Cavalry Scout (1951) as Lt. Spaulding
Little Big Horn (1951) as Cpl. Dean Moylan
Silver Canyon (1951) as Wade McQuarrie
The Sea Hornet (1951) as Tony Sullivan
Rose Of Cimarron (1952) as Willie Whitewater
The Big Sky (1952) as Streak
Woman Of The North Country (1952) as Steve Powell
Ride The Man Down (1952) as Red Courteen
Woman They Almost Lynched (1953) as Cole Younger
The President's Lady (1953) as Jason Robards
Jubilee Trail (1954) as Silky
The Big Chase (1954) as Brad Bellows
The Outcast (1954) as Major Lincoln Cosgrave
Outlaw's Daughter (1954) as Marshal Dan Porter
Hell's Outpost (1954) as Sam Horne
Timberjack (1955) as Poole
The Last Command (1955) as Ben Evans
Last Of The Desperados (1955) as Chief Deputy John Poe
The Vanishing American (1955) as Glendon
The Bottom Of The Bottle (1955) as George Cady
The Wild Dakotas (1956) as Aaron Baring
Women Without Men (1956) as Nick Randall
Blonde Bait (1956) as Nick Randall
The Maverick Queen (1956) as The Stranger
Frontier Gambler (1956) as Tony Burton
The Quiet Gun (1957) as Ralph Carpenter
Duel At Apache Wells (1957) as Dean Cannary
The Badge Of Marshal Brennan ( 1957) as Jeff Hardin/ The Stranger
The Restless Breed (1957) as Newton
Monster From Green Hell (1957) as Dr. Quint Brady
Apache Warrior (1957) as Ben Ziegler
The Last Stagecoach West (1957) as Bill Cameron
Raiders Of Old California (1957) as Captain Angus Clyde McKane
The Toughest Gun In Tombstone (1958) as Johnny Ringo
Wolf Dog (1958) as Jim Hughes
Flaming Frontier (1958) as Col. Hugh Carver
A Lust To Kill (1958) as Marshal Matt Gordon
Alias Jesse James (1959) as Frank James
Noose For A Gunman (1960) as Case Britton
Frontier Uprising (1961) as Jim Stockton
The Gambler Wore A Gun (1961) as case Silverthorne
Iron Angel (1964) as Sgt. Walsh
Zebra In The Kitchen (1965) as Adam Carlyle
Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966) as Marshal MacPhee
El Dorado (1966) as Jim Purvis
Fort Utah (1967) as Scarecrow
The Road Hustlers (1968) as Noah Reedy
They Ran For Their Lives (1968) as Vince Ballard
The Ice House (1969) as Jake
Five Bloody Graves (1969) as Clay Bates
Monte Walsh (1970) as Cal Brennan
Rio Lobo (1970) as Riley
Big Jake (1971) as Head Of Lynching Party
Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (1971) as Police Sgt. Martin
The Trackers (1971-TV) as Sheriff Naylor
The Honkers (1972) as Sheriff Potter
Bad Company (19720 as Marshal
One Little Indian (1973) as Trail Boss
Deliver Us From Evil (1973-TV) as Dixie
The Parallax View (1974) as George Hammond
Inferno In Paradise (1974) as Rocky Stratton
Satan's Triangle (1975-TV) as Hal Bancroft
The Runaway Barge (1975) as Captain Buckshot Bates
Law Of The Land (1976-TV) as Sheriff Lambrose
The Legend of Frank Woods (1977) as Deputy
Enigma (1977-TV) as Colonel Valentine
Just A Little Inconvenience (1977-TV) as Dave Erickson
Trail Of Danger (1978) as Pop
Killing Stone (1978) as Senator Barry Tyler
Comes A Horseman (1978) as Julie Blocker
The Day Time Ended (1979) as Grant
Don't Look Back: The Story Of Leroy "Satchel" page (1981) as Mr. Wilkerson
In addition to the Dallas TV series, Jim Davis also appeared on television in such programs as Dangerous Assignment, Gang Busters, The Unexpected, Cowboy G-Men, Fireside Theater, Stories Of The Century, The O. Henry Playhouse, The Millionaire, The Silent Service, M Squad, 26 Men, Rescue 8, The Tall Man, General Electric Theater, The Deputy, Coronado 9, Outlaws, Whispering Smith, Boris Karloff's Thriller, Tales Of Wells Fargo, Lassie, Have Gun Will Travel, The Donna Reed Show, Alcoa Premiere, Laramie, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, The Lucy Show, Laredo, Rawhide, Branded, The Time Tunnel, Hondo, Cimarron Strip, Bonanza, Death Valley Days, Daniel Boone, The High Chaparral, The Virginian, Night Gallery, The FBI, Cannon, The Sixth Sense, Kung Fu, Gunsmoke, The Streets Of San Francisco, The Cowboys, The Quest, Hunter, Project U F O and Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color among others.
Mr. Davis appeared eleven times on Gunsmoke, four times each on Daniel Boone, Wagon Train and Laramie.
He also appeared twice in the Perry Mason series. The first time he appeared in the episode entitled The Case Of The Fickle Filly as George Tabor in season six and again in season eight in the episode entitled The Case Of A Place Called Midnight as murder victim Joe Farrell.
In 1974 he starred in the short lived TV series The Cowboys as Marshal Bill Winter.
Davis was married to Blanche Hammerer from 1947 until his death.
Jim Davis passed away in 1981 at age 71 from cancer.
I enjoyed Mr. Davis in the films The Fabulous Texan, California Passage, Ride The Man, The Big Sky, Jubilee Trail, The Wild Dakotas, The Last Command, Alias Jesse James, Monte Walsh, The Parallax View, Rio Lobo, Noose For A Gunman and as Jock Ewing in Dallas.
Louie The Movie Buff