In Defense of Roger Davis -

[MagnusTrask]

I just don't see singling him out for poor acting.  He seemed solid and competent, as much as the rest.    I don't think of him as yelling a lot.   I'm missing a chunk in the middle of DS, 1968 mainly.  Anyway, I enjoy the fact that he enjoys going crazy on-screen so much.   I've said this elsewhere, but I love the scene where Dirk is gloating over Judith, when he's about to bite her.   "Our relationship us about to change!"    I like Tate.    I like that he's a coiled spring who doesn't quite know what form it's going to take when he explodes.    My background is in art and I can identify with him more than with Sam Evans, I guess.   Insane 100-year-old Tate in 1970 was a scream.

[Amanda]

I adore Roger Davis.  He's my favorite actor.  He has the greatest voice.  Looks to swoon over and all that good stuff.....

He may be the biggest jerk on the planet.  I don't know.  I would sure like to meet him and find out.  Too bad he won't attend the Fest.  I was hoping he would.  I am still going to make reservations.  Because either way I will still have a great weekend in New York.  Though one would be preferred over the other.

[retzev]

Now I feel kinda bad for ragging his acting! I assumed that's what everyones's beef with him was - couldn't have been more wrong it seems

Like I said, he's growing on me...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now I feel kinda bad for ragging his acting! I assumed that's what everyones's beef with him was - couldn't have been more wrong it seems

Oh, not necessarily. You see, there are many levels where RD is concerned. 

[Barnabas'sBride]

My dislike of RD started simply because I didn't like his characters. I didn't like Peter Bradford in 1795, although perhaps that was a decent performance by him compared to the others. I just didn't care about the character and I didn't like that they paired Vicki up with him. But with 1795, I ignored him because I was more interested in Barnabas's story and that was the main focus anyway. Then when Jeff Clark came on screen I was forced to notice him more. As Jeff Clark, he always seems to be on the verge of exploding in anger no matter what the scene. The character was irritating, and it seemed that all of his characters that followed were played exactly the same. His acting was very one note to me.

I've never cared for him, and it was that way before I knew/heard anything about him outside of his characters.

[stefan]

Though many articles certainly give that impression (along with many other erroneous impressions  ), it may not be entirely true. The truth was that ABC gave DS an alotted amount of time (I believe it was 26 weeks) to improve its ratings or be canceled.

Well. I think it can be at least be deducted that Jonathan Frid contributed more to the popularity of the show than Roger Davis did. And, in fact wasn't it the Barnabas 1795 story that introduced Roger Davis in he first place as Jeff Clark? I still think Davis' comments were in bad taste considering and to speak so in a public taped forum on a stage with his fellow co-workers. Yikes!

[stefan]

the fact that he was paired upon arrival with alexandra didn't do him any favors either.their acting styles were too different.her placidness contrasted to his beligerence was jarring.

I wonder if it exactly for this reason that Davis toned down his act considerably as Peter Bradford when he first started. Since Homolka was one of the stars I guess he might have been insecure enough or pressured enough to give sensitive modulated readings just to be in sync with her. I really do like him as Peter and enjoyed their chemistry (though the witch trial was dull all around).

[stefan]

as Jeff Clark

  ooops, I mean as Peter Bradford. I wish people were given more time to edit their posts. It seems just like after two seconds your time is up for corrections  

[Midnite]

I wish people were given more time to edit their posts. It seems just like after two seconds your time is up for corrections

I hear you, stefan, but you can preview posts indefinitely before submitting them.  Then you've got 120 secs. to make a first edit, and 120 secs. after that, etc.  The mods can see if you're still working on a post and thus wait to read it.  (At longer than 120 secs., we ran into problems with posters returning to edit posts after they'd already been moderated.)

Can you please attribute your quotes to their authors, especially if they're from another page?

Since Homolka was one of the stars

I don't understand.   

[stefan]

Since Homolka was one of the stars

I don't understand

Oh boy, I am out of it. Pardon me but just got through mid-terms and papers from graduate school and am probably not quite "in the world" yet. I meant Alexandra Moltka. Sorry!

[Mark Rainey]

I never much cared for any of RD's acting in the show; I thought he was okay in HoDS, but that's probably because he didn't have any scenes long enough to become tiresome. I did spend some time shooting the sh!t with him at a couple of the DS gatherings, and found him quite cordial (and he didn't try to sell me anything). When I did a reading from DREAMS OF THE DARK at the 99 Fest, he actually went out and rounded up a bunch of folks to come in to hear it, which I thought was quite cool of him -- and he was very complimentary about the chapter. So my personal experiences with him were positive. But then I actually saw him on a couple of occasions show his insufferable side with some of the other stars, and given the things so many people have told me, I can quite understand the widespread negative sentiment. It's a shame he's alienated so many people, since he's obviously capable of being pleasant, articulate, and supportive.

[MagnusTrask]

this isn't gossip but speculation... maybe he has moods.  maybe he gets his nerve up for being in front of people, and takes a drink or two, which can affect some people's metabolisms by altering personality a bit.    which could explain the discrepancy, being a nice guy sometimes but not necessarily on stage.     maybe he thinks he's being funny, and doesn't mean it.     none of this is meant as critical.      if it were any of these things though, you'd think he'd have figured out it isn't working for him, and do something to change things.

[retzev]

That's a damned good point, Trask, and I'm glad you mentioned it. Performers are not usually , in my experience, the coolest people to hang around. It takes a very unusual personality to do what they do, and more often than not, a certain degree of self-centeredness.

I don't think I could count the number of times that I've been disappointed to find that an artist whose work I admire is an insecure and/or arrogant jerk - either through an interview or a personal encounter, etc.

If RD's personality hasn't served him well in his professional life, and caused him to make an ass of himself in front of live audiences, shouldn't we feel a little bit sorry for him?

[Midnite]

which could explain the discrepancy, being a nice guy sometimes but not necessarily on stage.

Several years ago, RD publicly confessed to reading the unflattering things that fans were saying about him on the original Sci Fi boards (where many of us met), and he did seem to mellow a bit after that in his dealings with fans.  Before this admission, in my personal experience he was neither pleasant on stage nor one on one with fans at his t-shirt table or elsewhere during DS events.

[MagnusTrask]

That's a damned good point, Trask, and I'm glad you mentioned it. Performers are not usually , in my experience, the coolest people to hang around. It takes a very unusual personality to do what they do, and more often than not, a certain degree of self-centeredness.

I don't think I could count the number of times that I've been disappointed to find that an artist whose work I admire is an insecure and/or arrogant jerk - either through an interview or a personal encounter, etc.

If RD's personality hasn't served him well in his professional life, and caused him to make an ass of himself in front of live audiences, shouldn't we feel a little bit sorry for him?

I find it interesting and perhaps cool to be referred to as "Trask".

Felling sorry may be unnecessary and irrelevant.    It's certainly not a positive thing to feel sorry for someone... I don't respect people I feel sorry for in that way... just spitballing here.     I like to extract judgment from things if I can manage it.     Making allowances doesn't necessarily mean feeling sorry.   For me, it's more a matter of acknowledging that everyone has the capacity for being a jerk when placed under pressure ("there but for the grace of God go I" and all that), and once in a while, it's unavoidable, just because we're flesh and blood.    You still ought to criticize (how else do people learn?) but coming at people with both barrels might be too much.

Recognizing that drink alters personality (and drugs) necessitates a sort of inbetween response I think.    They're in limbo between being responsible and not responsible.    You can control your actions to a great extent, but once the alcohol is in you, to a certain extent you can't, and life can be crap, and drive one to drink.   It's a great big frustrating mixed bag, life, and erring on the side of withholding judgment is a pretty good fallback position.