John Davidson

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John Hamilton Davidson, Sr. (born December 13, 1941) is an American singer, actor and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible!, Time Machine, and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1990.

Biography

Davidson was born to two Baptist ministers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ("The Mike Douglas Show", July 11, 1974).^[1] During an appearance on the game show Scrabble in 1987, he told the national TV audience that he appeared as an underwear model in the 1959 Sears catalogue; he would have been 17 at the time. His boyish good looks, broad smile and telegenic charm gained him entry to such TV venues as sitcoms, game shows, variety shows and talk shows. He is perhaps best known for hosting 1980-84's "That's Incredible", a human interest/ stunt-themed series created in the tradition of, "You Asked For It".

Davidson made his Broadway debut in the 1964 production of Foxy, which starred Bert Lahr. He also appeared in State Fair in 1996. He was a member of the regular repertory company on the short-lived CBS variety show The Entertainers (1964-65). He made more than one hundred appearances on the original Hollywood Squares during its 1966–1981 run. He was a regular player on many anthology and variety series of the 1970s-80s, including such shows as "Ed Sullivan", "The Bobby Goldsboro Show", "The Sonny and Cher Hour", "Love American Style", "The trou du cul", "Love Boat", "Fantasy Island" and "Spenser for Hire".

In 1974, Davidson guest starred on the TV show "Streets of San Francisco" portraying a cross dressing lounge singer who murders his/her fans. In the episode, Davidson sings in drag impersonating such notables as Carol Channing, singing Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.

In the late 1970s, the actor became one of four regular guest hosts (along with Joey Bishop, McLean Stevenson and Joan Rivers) on the "Tonight Show". The performer hosted his own talk show, produced by Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W which aired daily in syndication from 1980 to 1982. He hosted a revival of Hollywood Squares, which ran from 1986 to 1989. He also hosted a 170-episode revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991.

Davidson has recorded twelve albums and performed in various musicals. His latest album CD "John Hamilton Davidson Is A Funny Guy" was released late 2006 to show both his skills at comedy and singing.^[2]. He acted in many movies including The Happiest Millionaire; The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band; Coffee, Tea or Me; The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders II; Airport '79; and Edward Scissorhands, as well as the sitcom The Girl with Something Extra with Sally Field. John was also a featured guest on several of the Carpenters' TV specials.

He was the scheduled headline act at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, the night the structure burned down, killing 165 persons, on May 28, 1977. He was not injured and later participated in a charity concert to raise funds for the families of fire victims.

In July 1991, Davidson appeared in summer stock with Sacramento Music Circus of Sacramento, California in The Music Man alongside Susan Watson, Richard Paul, Carol Swarbrick and the Delta Music Society Quartet of Sacramento. A few trivia notes: John has said that The Music Man was his favorite show to do. When playing Professor Harold Hill, he had the holes of his pitch pipe taped so that the only open hole was for the pitch he needed to blow; one one occasion, the barbershop quartet's bass (Chuck Kenney) had a working pitch pipe to loan him on stage when John's didn't work. John also owned a copy of the famous booklet "Captain Billy's Whizbang" (mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Trouble") which he carried with him in the production.

When appearing in a show, John loves to mingle with the cast and socialize with them. He was also always willing to accept stage direction from director Glenn Casale even though the role of Harold Hill was very familiar to him.

Davidson has appeared in recent productions of "A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Forum", "Kismet, "State Fair", "Man of La Mancha", & "Chicago", and, most recently, "Will Rogers' Follies", at the Surflight Theatre in Long Beach Island, NJ. He is also performing in his own play "Father/Son and Holy Ghost" an autobiographical play about his relationship with his father who was a minister, which received generally negative reviews. Davidson is one of the most popular musical performers ever to appear on Billboard's "Hot 100" (Pop) chart.^{[citation needed]} He has placed several singles on their "Adult Contemporary" survey.

References

External links

• John Davidson at the Internet Movie Database
• John Davidson at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Davidson at TV.com
• John Davidson Website