CTVA Profile - Director - EddieDavis
Profile - Director - Eddie Davis
Compiled for ctva by
Sal Crisanti
<crisanti52@netscape.net>
ONE DAY EARLY IN 1950 EDDIE DAVIS, THEN AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR,
CAME OUT
TO ZIV PRODUCTIONS IN HOLLYWOOD FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH SOME STUDIO EXECUTIVES.
FOR THE MOST PART THE INTERVIEW WENT WELL AND EDDIE WAS HIRED AS AN
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE CISCO KID SERIES. SOON AFTER, HE WAS PROMOTED
TO PRODUCTION MANAGER. BUT BEFORE ALL OF THIS, EDDIE DAVIS' CAREER
OFFICIALLY STARTED IN 1941 AT MONOGRAM PICTURES, ALSO AS AN ASSISTANT
DIRECTOR. FOR THE NEXT NINE YEARS HE WORKED MAINLY ON COMEDY, CRIME
AND MYSTERY FEATURE FILMS.
BESIDES PUTTING IN MUCH OF HIS TIME AT MONOGRAM PICTURES, HE FREELANCED
AT OTHER STUDIOS THE LIKES OF PRODUCERS RELEASING
CORPORATION, LIPPERT PICTURES AND EAGLE-LION FILMS. BUT THE BEST EXPERIENCE
HE COULD EVER WANT WAS WORKING WITH TALENTED DIRECTORS LIKE:
LAMBERT HILLYER, PHIL ROSEN, WILLAM BEAUDINE AND HOWARD BRETHERTON.
AT MONOGRAM HIS ASSIGNMENTS WERE
WESTERN SERIES. THE JOHNNY MACK BROWN,JIMMY WAKELY,CISCO KID AND WHIP WILSON
FEATURES. HE ALSO DID SOME OF THE CHARLIE CHAN PRODUCTIONS, STARRING SIDNEY
TOLER. BY 1950, EDDIE DAVIS HAD SOME 90 OR SO FEATURE FILMS TO HIS CREDIT.
THEN A BREAK OCCURRED WHILE WORKING AT ZIV AS PRODUCTION MANAGER.
THE STUDIO RELEASED DIRECTOR DERWIN ABRAHAMS AFTER THE FIRST 26 EPISODES
OF "THE CISCO KID" SERIES, AND WERE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE AS A REPLACEMENT
FOR ABRAHAMS. AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, EDDIE DAVIS' NAME WAS MENTIONED, AND
A RECCOMENDATION BY STUNTMAN TROY MELTON. THE STUDIO'S EXECUTIVES GAVE DAVIS
A SHOT AT A COUPLE OF EPISODES, AND THE REST IS HISTORY.
FROM THEN ON EDDIE DAVIS STAYED WITH ZIV AND
DIRECTED, CO-WROTE AND PRODUCED EPISODES FOR THE FOLLOWING SERIES.
"THE CISCO KID"(1950-1956),
"BOSTON BLACKIE'(1951-1953),
"HIGHWAY PATROL"(1955-1959),
"SEA HUNT"(1958-1961),
"THE MAN CALLED X'(1956-1957),
"THE ROUGH RIDERS"(1958-1959),
"MEET CORLISS ARCHER"(1954-1955).
HE WAS SUPERVISING PRODUCER FOR "I LED 3 LIVES"(1953-1956) A VERY
POPULAR ZIV ENTRY.
DURING THE LATE 60'S HE ALSO DIRECTED EPISODES FOR "THE RAT PATROL"
SERIES(1966-1968).
TOWARDS THE END OF HIS CAREER, EDDIE DAVIS DIRECTED AND CO-WROTE 4
FULL-LENGTH FEATURES.
"PANIC IN THE CITY"(1969),
"COLOR ME DEAD"(1969),
"IT TAKES AL KINDS"(1969)
"THAT LADY FROM PEKING"(1970).
HE WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED BY MANY CLASSIC TV
FANS FOR HIS WORK AT ZIV TELEVISION.