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 John
Davidson’s not getting older, he’s getting better.
And, Father Time aside, that’s truly what makes him
tick.
Excited about his November 9-11 appearance at the Suncoast
– his first Las Vegas appearance in untold years –
the actor/singer/former television game show host admits that
his challenge now is in trying to be one of the great singing
entertainers. As someone who acknowledges that constant change
is an important part of who he is, he’s looking very
much forward to singing a different tune.
“I’m looking for the market who remembers me from
my TV show, which ran daily in syndication from 1980-82,”
Davidson says. “Back in the 60’s and 70’s,
I used to do Vegas 10 weeks a year but once I started doing
television, I never came back here. Even so, every other week
I’m performing somewhere. I just got done doing ‘A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’ and I
appear at performing arts centers and on the condo circuit.
I also perform on cruise ships on a monthly basis.”
Davidson has never been one to miss the boat when it comes
to personal growth. He is studying with a new voice teacher
in New York and every summer he does regional theater to keep
up his dramatic chops. Today he considers himself a singing
entertainer, one who has the ability to move an audience.
“I sing romantic songs; I’m a balladeer,”
Davidson explains. “But my act is 70 percent music and
30 percent comedy. I even work as a comedian sometimes and
I’ve written a lot of comedy songs. In my show, I’ll
come out into the audience and ask couples when they fell
in love. I know three memorable songs from every year from
1945-1985 and will sing a medley of those three for them from
the year they give me.”
“I do a classic nightclub act with comedy, a variety
of music and audience bits,” he continues. “There
aren’t many performers doing that anymore. Clint Holmes
does it and he’s one of the best. I admire him –
that’s what I strive to be.”
Born to two Baptist ministers in Pittsburgh, Davidson is best
known for hosting That’s Incredible, Time Machine, and
Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and hosting the revival of
The $100,000 Pyramid in the early 90s. He also hosted The
Tonight Show over 80 times, making him the only singer to
achieve that milestone.
Davidson
actually began his professional journey on Broadway in 1964
in FOXY playing Bert Lahr’s son. Television producer
Bob Banner (“The Carol Burnett Show”) discovered
him in the musical and became his mentor, encouraging him
to envision a multi-faceted career. Davidson has recorded
12 albums and has appeared in various musicals. His movie
credits include The Happiest Millionaire, The One and Only,
Original Family Band, Coffee, Tea or Me, The Dallas Cowboy
Cheerleaders, Airport ’79, and Edward Scissorhands .
“I had a theater in Branson from 1992-95,” Davidson
recalls. “Then in the late 90’s, I went back to
Broadway and did “State Fair,” which was a new
musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. It was after that that
I started getting back more to my Las Vegas-type show. Jack
Benny first introduced me in Vegas in 1966 and I played all
the major hotels. Now I want to come back to what I did for
ages 40 years ago.”
“I like the idea of constantly working on change,”
he adds. “It’s like this is the latest John Davidson
model but there will be a new model coming out next year.
I’m constantly trying to develop my own thing and I’m
never finished. I’m always working on the product –
being a singer, entertainer, actor, father and husband.”
Although Davidson and his wife Rhonda have been married for
26 years and have three grandchildren under the age of 3,
Davidson admits that they are constantly working on their
relationship. But that’s just all part and parcel of
the unrest that exists inside Davidson to this day.
“I’m a perfectionist and very self-critical,”
Davidson reveals. “I write songs yet I have yet to write
the ultimate song or to do the perfect show. I don’t
feel like I’ve really made it in show business. I’m
just a jack of all trades – I’ve had a little
success on TV and Broadway and in records, Vegas and films.”
”I enjoy working on becoming better,” he sums
up. “It keeps me going. I’m still the guy who’s
trying to develop himself. I don’t have inner peace
– I constantly feel the challenge of
being better. That’s what drives me. I have a passion
for constantly changing – the challenge of life for
me is to be working on improving. I don’t think I will
ever have inner peace but then I don’t really care about
it. It seems kind of boring.”
All the
better to entertain you with, my dears.
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ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES
BY
BOBBIE KATZ
HERE |
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