Dix Davis
{{Short description|American actor and intelligence analyst (1926–2024)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dix Davis
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Dixon Davis
| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|9|12}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|1|6|1926|9|12}}
| death_place = Dorset, Vermont, U.S.
| othername = Peter Dixon Davis
| education = University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley
| occupation = Actor, intelligence analyst
| years_active = 1934–1949,
mid 1950s through the late 1980s
| known_for = A Date With Judy, One Man's Family
| spouse = June Dunn
| relatives = Tim Davis (brother)
}}
Peter Dixon Davis (born Dixon Davis; September 12, 1926 – January 6, 2024) was an American child actor in radio and film, perhaps best known as Randolph, the title character's wise-cracking kid brother on the popular 1940s teen sitcom, A Date With Judy.{{Cite news|title=Photo Standalone 16 -- No Title|author=|date=June 21, 1942|work=New York Times|page=X10|quote='A Date With Judy,' replacing the Hope show on Tuesday (WEAF, 10 P.M.), will bring Dix Davis.|id={{ProQuest|106390792}}}}[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lincoln-star/140379894/ "Spotlight Features"]. The Lincoln Star. June 22, 1942. p. 12. "Summer replacement for Bob Hope is the brilliant comedian, Dix Davis, who will be the kid brother in the series 'Date With Judy,' beginning Tuesday."[https://www.newspapers.com/image/222200261/?clipping_id=124106043 "KFAM Program Hi-Lites"]. St. Cloud Times. June 3, 1943. p. 11.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/865261393/?clipping_id=124106192 "Radio Rib"]. The Buffalo News. September 8, 1945. p. 51.Gilmore, Jim (October 13, 1949). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republic/140371201/ "Radio Activity"]. The Evening Republican. p. 7. "Louise Erickson, who has carved out quite a career in radio for herself, will resume the role of Judy in A DATE WITH JUDY, which makes its premiere on ABC at 7:30 tonight over WISH. [...] We hope Dix Davis is back as Randolph. He had some of the best lines in the program and he handled them well." Davis later served as an intelligence analyst with the United States Information Service and, for more than three decades, with the Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Current Intelligence (OCI).[https://www.newspapers.com/image/139452950/?clipping_id=140236563 "Stephanie Coghlan, Thomas S. Cleveland Married in India"]. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 3, 1953. p. 10G.
Early life and career
Dixon Davis was born in Los Angeles, California on September 12, 1926."California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGL4-SS5M : Sun Oct 15 14:58:16 UTC 2023), Entry for Dixon Davis and Fredrick Duane Davis, 12 Sep 1926. He was the younger of two sons born to Fredrick Duane Davis and Marion Naomi Stimson."United States Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC85-CLG : Wed Oct 04 04:29:06 UTC 2023), Entry for Fred D Davis and Naomi S Davis, 1930.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-mary-naomi-stimso/103196819/ "Deaths: Davis, Mary N."]. Los Angeles Times. pt. II, p. 11. Retrieved February 13, 2024. According to an article published in 1942 by the Harrisburg Telegraph, Davis's "overnight" transition "from newsboy's assistant to actor" occurred in the summer of 1934 in front of The Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard, where, while hawking newspapers and magazines, Davis and his brother caught the fancy of a party of passersby headed by songwriter Gus Kahn. After purchasing some of their wares, Kahn and company instructed the boys to report to United Artists the next day for parts in Eddie Cantor's upcoming film, and thus Davis came to make his uncredited screen debut in the 1934 musical comedy Kid Millions.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/43571957/?clipping_id=140640046 "Young Crestfallen Manor Bellhop Is Studio Veteran"]. Harrisburg Telegraph. March 14, 1942. p. 27.
The brief film career that resulted likewise consisted primarily of inconsequential bit parts, mostly uncredited. That said, on the rare occasion that he was given anything to play, Davis's work did not go unnoticed. Case in point, the 1940 drama, The Old Swimmin' Hole. Concluding its review of the film, The Hollywood Reporter notes, "Si Jenks is fine in support and there is still another good bit by another child, Dix Davis,"{{Cite news|title=Dunlap Hits With Fine, Human Yarn|author=|date=October 21, 1940|work=The Hollywood Reporter|page=3|quote=Si Jenks is fine in support and there is still another good bit by another child, Dix Davis.|id={{ProQuest|2297304610}}}} while the British periodical Monthly Film Bulletin observes:
Jackie Moran is not so convincing as the adolescent Chris, but Charles Brown plays the big-hearted country doctor to perfection, and a special word must be said for Dix Davis, a small boy in the hero worshipping stage who wants to join the Lions.{{Cite news|title=United States of America: 'When Youth Conspires'|author=O., E.|date=January 1, 1941|work=Monthly Film Bulletin|page=3|quote=Jackie Moran is not so convincing as the adolescent Chris, but Charles Brown plays the big-hearted country doctor to perfection, and a special word must be said for Dix Davis, a small boy in the hero worshipping stage who wants to join the Lions.|id={{ProQuest|1305818002}}}}
In May 1939, Davis made his radio debut opposite Lionel Barrymore on The Rudy Vallee Show.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/70102489/?clipping_id=140396085 "'Date With Judy' Is Air Offering"]. Belvidere Daily Republican. June 30, 1943. p. 5. The trio would be reunited at least twice in the next few years, for the 1941 and '42 editions of Barrymore's annual Christmas day rendition of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with Davis as Tiny Tim and Vallee, Bob Cratchit, to Barrymore's Scrooge.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-barrymore-and-benny/123978093/ "Mary Martin; Studio Jottings"]. The Buffalo News. December 29, 1941. p. 18.Barr, Matt (December 24, 1942). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/380736971/?match=1&clipping_id=140258470 "On the Air"]. The Los Angeles Times. p. 10. "If there is a classic in radio, it is the Barrymore presentation of Dickens' Christmas story. Rudy Vallee's program will be devoted entirely to 'A Christmas Carol' tomorrow, and Rudy himself will be narrator. Supporting Barrymore as Scrooge will be an all-star cast, including Dix Davis, one of the best of Hollywood's child actors, as Tiny Tim, Eric Snowden as Bob Cratchit, and Hans Conreid as the ghost of Jacob Marley."
In April 1944, Davis co-starred with New York Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio as the latter made his acting debut on the radio anthology series, Skippy Hollywood Theatre.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/hawaii-tribune-herald/140154044/ "On the Air Tonight"]. Hawaii Tribune-Herald. May 26, 1944. p. 7. "New futures are predicted for Joe DiMaggio, the baseball son of California dear to the hearts of the Yanks and now on duty with the Army! Come curtain time for Skippy Hollywood Theater tonight, Joe becomes a Thespian. Batting the 'clean-up' spot in the radio drama, 'One Hit, Two Errors,' Joe's first dramatic appearance is sure to endear him even further to baseball fans."Mote, James (1989). [https://archive.org/details/everythingbaseba00mote/page/112/mode/2up?q=%22one+hit%2C+two+errors+1948%22+%22joe+dimaggio+as+joe+collins%22+%22two+major+league+scouts%22 Everything Baseball]. New York: Prentice Hall Press. p. 112. {{ISBN|0132928892}}. "ONE HIT, TWO ERRORS, 1948 (Hollywood Theatre of Stars) Mutual, 30 minutes, October 12, 1948 Cast: Joe DiMaggio as Joe Collins, and Dix Davis as Lefty Collins. [...] Light-hearted story in which two major league scouts use subterfuge against each other in their efforts to sign an unassuming small-town slugger." Later that year, Davis was teamed with Basil Rathbone on Columbia Masterworks' recording of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, as Jim Hawkins to Rathbone's Long John Silver.Dunn, Dewey (November 26, 1944). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/518344057/?clipping_id=140455642 "On the Records"]. The Capital Times. p. 10.
Later career
As early as 1943, Davis let it be known that his long-range goals did not include acting, nor anything else remotely show-business-related.
Dix is dark-haired, brown-eyed, has regular features which are thickly speckled with freckles, and is "14 going on 15."{{efn|In fact, Davis—born September 9, 1926—was sixteen going on seventeen when this was published, heightening even further the "rather small for his age" incongruity noted elsewhere in the same article.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/841673100/?clipping_id=123978093 "Studio Jottings"]. The Buffalo News. December 29, 1941. p. 18.}} Most of the time he seems a bit too preoccupied to pay much attention to girls; possibly because his thoughts are concerned with the far-away places of the globe. His ambition, it appears, is to be a trained geographer-explorer, and his hobby is map making.
In 1946 and '47, an approximately one-year-long hitch with the United States Army saw Davis reach the rank of Sergeant, but also delayed by one year his graduation from the University of Southern California.[https://archive.org/details/circleville-herald-1947-11-12/page/n15/mode/2up?q=%22dix+davis%22 "On the Air"]. Circleville Herald. November 12, 1947. p. 9. "Dix Davis, 20-year-old actor who plays 'Randolph' on NBC's Tuesday Night 'A Date With Judy,' is a senior at the University of Southern California. A hitch in the Army prevented him from graduation last year. Dix began his professional career in 1934, playing a role in the United Artists production of 'Kid Millions.' His first radio show was in 1939 with Rudy Vallee and Lionel Barrymore."Subotnik, Nadine (April 2, 1946). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette/140638322/ "Radio: Notes and Comment"]. The Cedar Rapids Gazette. p. 7.Subotnik, Nadine (April 27, 1947). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/550975521/?clipping_id=140638270 "Radio: Notes and Comment"]. The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Sec. 3, p. 9. In 1948, the then-21-year-old USC senior initially hinted at, then definitively announced his intention to pursue a diplomatic career.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/quad-city-times/140371396/ "Listening In"]. Quad-City Times. January 18, 1948. p. 23. "Dix Davis, who plays Randolph on 'A Date With Judy' is thinking seriously of entering the diplomatic service as a career man. He won't make a definite decision until he graduates from the University of Southern California next June. He is 21 years old and has been a top flight radio actor since he made his debut with Rudy Vallee and Lionel Barrymore almost 10 years ago."Subotnik, Nadine (May 15, 1948). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette/140370793/ "Radio Notes and Comment"]. The Cedar Rapids Gazette. p. 6. In November of that year, however, a recent addition to A Date With Judy's cast helped Davis—albeit only temporarily—make a somewhat less radical career detour:
Dix Davis, who plays Randolph, Judy's brother, And Dick Crenna, Oogie Pringle, the teen-ager's boy friend, have now entered a new profession—song writing. They've just written a tune, "Tomorrow," which they hope to publish soon. Davis did the lyrics, Crenna the music.Kinnear, Carolee (November 12, 1948). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-herald/140764984/ "Radio and Records"]. The News-Herald. p. 3. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
Following a six-month, 15,000-mile road trip through Europe in 1949, Davis was employed by the State Department, serving as Assistant Press Officer in Pakistan. He later earned an advanced degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, prior to commencing his 33-year career with the CIA's Office of Current Intelligence, delivering periodic briefings to every U.S. President from Eisenhower through Reagan.Helgerson, John L. (2004). [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780160588211/page/132/mode/2up?q=%22peter+dixon+davis%22 Getting to Know the President: Intelligence Briefings of Presidential Candidates, 1952–2004]. Washington, D.C.; Central Intelligence Agency. p. 115. {{ISBN|978-1-929667-19-2}}.
Personal life and death
Davis met his future wife June Dunn in Washington, D.C., during his second career with the CIA's Office of Current Intelligence. He died on January 6, 2024, at the age of 97. He was predeceased by his wife and his brother, and survived by his late wife's two sons, their spouses, and several grandchildren.{{Cite news|title=Death Notices: Davis|author=|date=January 12, 2024|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=|quote=Peter Dixon Davis, 97, of Dorset, Vermont, passed away peacefully on Saturday January 6th, 2024. Peter was born in Beverly Hills, California on September 12th, 1926. Peter was “discovered” as a child and became a star at 5 years old. Peter enjoyed a successful 15-year career as a radio, movie and television actor. He was part of Jack Benny’s Gang and was also part of the cast of One Man’s Family. He appeared on the Little Rascals, and he worked in film with the likes of William Powell and Shirley Temple. Peter enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and reached the grade of Sergeant by the time of his honorable discharge in 1947. After his stint in the army, Peter earned an Undergraduate degree in 1949 from the University of Southern California focusing on his interest in Foreign Service. Having always been fascinated with travel to foreign countries, Peter left his acting career behind and embarked on a six-month, 15,000-mile road tour of Europe in a two-seater MG-TC roadster. Peter landed his first position in foreign service, serving as Assistant Press Officer for the State Department in Pakistan during President Truman’s Campaign of Truth. He then returned to the U.S. to pursue a graduate degree in Political Science at The University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on South Asian studies. After graduating, Peter was hired by the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Current Intelligence (OCI), where he produced daily foreign intelligence digests for the Eisenhower White House. He was later hired as an analyst to cover India and Pakistan, and moved to Mclean, Virginia. Peter ultimately became OCI’s acting director and was responsible for reviewing and analyzing foreign intelligence gathered from across the globe to produce the President’s Daily Brief—and present it in person, to the President, Vice President and Secretary of State. Peter enjoyed a long and fulfilling, 33-year career with the US government working under nine presidents.|id={{ProQuest|2914142438}}}}
Partial filmography
{{Div col}}
- Kid Millions (1934) - Little Boy in Ice Cream Number (uncredited)
- Our Gang Follies of 1936 (1935) - Audience member lifted in air when fat boy sits down[http://theluckycorner.com/rmt/141.html "Our Gang Follies Of 1938, film no. 141; the kids"]. TheLuckyCorner.com.
- The Pigskin Palooka (1937) - #33 on Opposing Team[http://theluckycorner.com/rmt/160.html "Our Gang Follies Of 1938, film no. 160; the kids"]. TheLuckyCorner.com.
- Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937) - Boy sitting at the table closest to the gang's, right next to Spanky, in Clubhouse Spanky scene (uncredited)[http://theluckycorner.com/rmt/162.html "Our Gang Follies Of 1938, film no. 162; Club Spanky extras"]. TheLuckyCorner.com.
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) - Schoolboy (uncredited)
- Test Pilot (1938) - Kid (uncredited)[https://catalog.afi.com/Person/39060-Dix-Davis "Dix Davis filmography"]. American Film Institute.
- Cocoanut Grove (1938) - Boy Who Fights Half-Pint (uncredited)
- The Singing Cowgirl (1938) - Billy HarkinsBradley, Edwin M. (2020). [https://books.google.com/books?id=FX7pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 Hollywood Musicals You Missed: Seventy Noteworthy Films from the 1930s]. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 145. {{ISBN|978-1-4766-7358-5}}.
- The Little Ranger (1938) - Gang Member Who Ties Alfalfa (uncredited)
- Breaking the Ice (1938) - uncredited{{Cite news|title=Up-to-the-Date Casting News|author=|date=May 28, 1938|work=The Hollywood Reporter|page=7|quote=Jerry Sheldon, Norman Salling, Dix Davis, Victor Kramer, Barry Downing, Rex Downing to 'Breaking the Ice,' Principal.|id={{ProQuest|2297371349}}}}
- Aladdin's Lantern (1938) - Boy Sitting Behind Deacon (uncredited)
- Feathered Pests (1939) - KidMaltin, Leonard (1972). [https://archive.org/details/selectedshortsub0000malt/page/110/mode/2up?q=%22dix+davis%22 Selected Short Subjects From Spanky to the Three Stooges]. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 111. {{ISBN|0-306-80204-X}}.
- The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940) - Boy (uncredited){{Cite news|title=Advance Production Chart: Columbia|author=|date=April 17, 1940|work=Variety|page=18|quote='The Doctor Takes a Wife,' comedy-drama; produced by William Perlberg; director, Alexander Hall; screenplay, George Seaton and Ken Englund; original by Aleen Leslie; photography, Sid Hickox; Cast: Loretta Young, Ray Milland, Gail Patrick, Reginald Gardiner, Edmund Gwenn, Gordon Jones, Hal K. Dawson, Frank Sully, Chester Clute, Stanley Brown, Frank Orth, Frank Darien, Charles Halton, Don Beddoe, Charles Lane, Olin Howland, Emma Tansey, Sumner Gretchel, Renie Riano, Dix Davis, Gertrude Sutton, Eddie Laughton.|id={{ProQuest|1505753975}}}}
- Our Town (1940) - Si Crowell[https://archive.org/details/Photoplay-1940-07-Vol-54-No-7/page/80/mode/2up?q=%22dix+davis%22+%22our+town%22 "Casts of Current Pictures"]. Photoplay. July 1940. p. 80.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/865922756/?clipping_id=140237757 "Young Veteran"]. Washington Evening Star. March 28, 1940. p. C-10.
- I Love You Again (1940) - Cpl. Belenson (uncredited)Parish, James Robert (1974). [https://archive.org/details/hollywoodsgreatl00pari/page/232/mode/2up?q=Belenson+%22dix+Davis%22 Hollywood's Great Love Teams]. New Rochelle, N.Y. : Arlington House Publishers. p. 233. {{ISBN|0-87000-245-7}}.Houk, Kathryn (August 29, 1940). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/880378789/?clipping_id=140239133 "Society News"]. The Urbana Daily Citizen. p. 5.
- The Old Swimmin' Hole (1940) - Jimmy
- Meet the Chump (1940) - Newsboy (uncredited)
- Bad Men of Missouri (1941) - Young Bob (uncredited)
- The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1943) - Messenger (voice){{Citation needed |date=February 2024}}
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Notes
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References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- [https://www.newspapers.com/image/458845812/?clipping_id=140228342 "Foreign Relations Award Given to U. of C. Student"]. San Francisco Examiner. April 23, 1956. Sec. 1, p. 32.
- Davis, Peter Dixon (1957). The Himalayan Frontier from the Perspective of India's National Interest. Berkeley, CA : The University of California. {{OCLC|21749572}}.
External links
- {{IMDb name|0204482}}
- [https://www.discogs.com/artist/1202085-Dix-Davis Dix Davis at Discogs]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Dix}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male child actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American radio actors
Category:Analysts of the Central Intelligence Agency
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles
Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers