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Edwards Davis

May 07, 2024

Cader Edwards Davis (June 17, 1873 – May 16, 1936) was an American actor, producer, and playwright of vaudeville and the silent film era, known as a character actor. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he was an ordained Christian minister and first achieved prominence as a sensational orator and lecturer, becoming known as the "poet-preacher" and the "Talmage of the West", before leaving the pulpit for an acting career. He wrote and starred in several original plays and vaudeville sketches, and appeared in over 50 films. In New York he was a president of the National Vaudeville Artists Association and the Green Room Club. In Hollywood he was a founder and president of the Masonic 233 Club. He was married to several actresses, including Adele Blood, who also appeared in some of his productions.

Edwards Davis
Born
Cader Edwards Davis

(1873-06-17)June 17, 1873
Santa Clara, California, U.S.
DiedMay 16, 1936(1936-05-16) (aged 62)
Hollywood, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Spouses
Magaret Kingore
​
​
(m. 1898; div. 1900)​
​
​
(m. 1906; div. 1914)​
Jule Power
​
(died 1932)​
Signature

Early years and ministry edit

Cader Edwards Davis[a] was born June 17, 1873, in Santa Clara, California, and raised in nearby Oakland.[7][8][b] His father, William Wallace Davis, was a noted agriculturalist,[16][17] and his brother Gideon became an advertising executive and editor of the Oakland Herald.[18][19] He attended Washington College before earning an M.A. at the University of Kentucky.[8][20][c]

 
Davis became a popular, sensational orator

He began his ministry with short pastorates in Sullivan and Mattoon, Illinois, before returning to California, where he was pastor at Oakland's Central Christian Church for four years.[8] He gained a reputation as an orator and lecturer, and was known as the "poet-preacher"[23] and the "Talmage of the West".[7][14] In less than two years membership in his congregation tripled and audiences swelled to see the minister dubbed by the New York Tribune: "actor-preacher, a word-painter, a patron of the waltz... and the most popular preacher in the city."[7] He enacted scenes from Richard III in sermon to an audience of fifteen hundred people, and on another occasion sought to illustrate the innocence of dancing by giving representations of the waltz.[24] He added footlights to his pulpit.[25] A writer for the San Francisco Town Talk recalled: "as a clergyman Edwards Davis was skilled in the arts of advertising. He was always doing something to attract attention to himself. He rode a wheel before bicycling became common, he wore a claw-hammer in the pulpit, he waltzed for his congregation."[26] He was an admirer of Irish author Oscar Wilde, and often billed himself as "the American Oscar Wilde" (a moniker originated by newspapers), but dropped the nickname after Wilde's arrest for gross indecency.[27][24] He defended agnostic orator Robert G. Ingersoll.[28] He offered to officiate a wedding in a lion cage at San Francisco's Chutes amusement park.[29][30][d] The Oregonian wrote: "Davis' preaching ever bordered on the spectacular. His enemies said he did more harm to the church than good; his friends said he was one of the mainstays of the denomination".[32]

In early 1898, Davis became involved in a case involving convicted murderer Theodore Durrant that eventually led to Davis resigning from his church.[33] Davis visited Durrant in prison on January 6, the night before his execution, ostensibly to offer spiritual council, but was later suspected of being sent by the San Francisco Examiner to obtain an interview.[29][34] As reported by the San Francisco Evening Bulletin the next day, Davis had come in the service of a morning newspaper, and as he left Durrant's cell a scrimmage broke out in which Davis was very frightened. Durrant's father shouted "God! Haven't you any respect for a minister of the gospel?" A prizefighter who had been accompanying Davis attempted to intervene, was thwarted by a guard with a gun, and Davis was escorted to his carriage.[35] The prizefighter was thought to be a bodyguard hired by the Examiner. Davis claimed libel, and sued the Bulletin for $50,000.[35] The affair arose controversy within his church[36] and the public,[34] and he resigned from his ministry on January 23, 1898.[33][37] One week later, he married Alta Margaret ("Alice") Kingore, a choir singer from his congregation.[38][39]

In May 1898, Davis was accused of a variety of misconducts, including drunkenness and associating with "loose characters".[40] In August, a group of California ministers issued a proclamation stating he was no longer allowed to preach in the state.[41]

 
Davis in The Unmasking, in which he made over 1,000 performances

Vaudeville and Broadway edit

Davis and his wife, Kingore, moved to New York, where after secular business plans failed they found themselves stranded.[42] His New York stage debut was in January 1889, with a one-line role as the Viceroy of India in The Cherry Pickers.[8] He toured with Charles Coghlan's company in The Royal Box until Coghlan's November 1899 death,[43] and with Charles Frohman's The Adventures of Lady Ursula in 1900.[44] Kingore also went into theatre, after Davis was incapacitated for several weeks with a broken foot. In April 1900 Kingore filed for divorce while Davis was on tour,[42][45][e] and by December of that year he was stage manager for a Chicago production of The Devil and a Swede.[47]

His first play, The Seventh Commandment, premiered in 1901 starring Robert Downing with Davis in a supporting role.[8][48] He spent the next few years with various companies, including Belasco and Mayer's The Dairy Farm, which premiered at San Francisco's Alcazar Theatre in August 1903.[49][50]

In the summer of 1903, Davis premiered and starred in a play of his own writing, a tragedy called The Unmasking which debuted in Oakland.[51] The play was panned by the Oakland Enquirer, which called it "simply gross, unredeemed by the spurious and shallow sentimentality with which it reeks".[52] He would perform The Unmasking over 1,000 times, which gained the distinction of being the first successful tragedy to be performed in vaudeville.[8][53] Davis and his company brought The Unmasking onto the vaudeville circuit in 1905, touring the Orpheum Chain before making a New York City premiere in August 1906 at Keith's Union Square Theatre.[54] A reviewer for Goodwin's Weekly called it "a great piece of work, uniquely modeled and beautifully finished... cannot be too highly commended," while reviews in Variety included "it requires attention and trimming",[54] and "Suffers from being overacted. It was beautifully staged."[55]

 
Davis (right) in The Strength of the Weak alongside Mary Fuller and Harry Hilliard

Other original works by Davis included All Rivers Meet at Sea, The Kingdom of Destiny,[56] and a dramatization of the Oscar Wilde novel The Picture of Dorian Gray,[8] which is among the book's earliest adaptations.[57] Another play, The Blessed and The Damned, premiered at the Newark Theatre, New Jersey, in May 1915.[58]

In New York City, his Broadway appearances included Daddies (1918–19) produced by David Belasco.[59][60] He was a three-term president ("prompter") of the Green Room Club,[61] and was elected president of the National Vaudeville Artists Association in 1919.[62][63]

Film edit

Davis appeared in over 50 films, from the silent era into early talkies,[64] and was known as a character actor.[11] He had early film roles in Frederick Thomson's Her Mother's Secret (1915)[65] and Lucius Henderson's The Strength of the Weak (1916).[53] His performance in the latter was described as "too artificial and melodramatic to be convincing" by The Moving Picture World,[66] while Wid's Films and Film Folk called Davis "a splendid type" who "gave a smooth performance, with the exception of a number of places where he was inclined to register his gestures with a little too much of the theatrical touch."[5] By 1918 his film appearances included A Circus Romance, Who's Guilty, The Daughter of MacGregor, Transgression, The Victim, Bab's Matinee Idol, Dodging a Million, and De Luxe Annie.[67][68]

Davis' film roles in the 1920s included The New York Idea (1920), The Plaything of Broadway (1921), Hook and Ladder (1924), and The Woman on the Jury (1924).[68][6] The second half of the decade saw Davis in A Hero on Horseback (1927), A Reno Divorce (1927), The Life of Riley (1928), Happiness Ahead (1928), The Sporting Age (1928), A Song of Kentucky (1929),[69] and Madam Satan (1930).[70]

 
Margaret Kingore
 
Adele Blood
 
Jule Power
Davis was married to three actresses.

In Hollywood, Davis was a founder and president of the 233 Club,[62] a Masonic organization of actors and motion picture workers.[71] In his later years he wrote a book entitled Lovers of Life: An Epic Biography of a Soul.[11][72]

On November 25, 1906, Davis married the actress Adele Blood, who was a lead in The Unmasking.[8] They divorced in 1914, and he was later married to the actress Jule Power,[f] who was named in his divorce from Blood. Power died in 1932,[74][g] and Davis died in Hollywood on May 16, 1936, after a two-year illness.[62][12]

Partial filmography edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Davis is also sometimes known as Edward Davis,[1][2] Cader Russell Davis,[3][4] and J. Edwards Davis.[5][6]
  2. ^ Sources differ on his year of birth: it stated as 1867 in Stage Deaths (1991),[9], and Silent Film Necrology (1995) [10] and Internet Broadway Database.[2] and as 1873 in Who's Who in Music and Drama (1914),[8] and an Overland Monthly article.[7] His age at death is recorded as 65 in contemporary obituaries.[11][12] However, His age is recorded as 7 in the 1880 U.S. Census,[13] and as 25 in a January 1899 news article.[14] Davis himself wrote he left his former profession (as preacher) before age 25.[15]
  3. ^ Cader Davis of Oakland, Cal., is listed as a student in the Kentucky University College of the Bible in 1891–92 and 1892–93 sessions.[21][22]
  4. ^ The proposed lion cage wedding did not occur.[31]
  5. ^ The Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Call published several letters from Davis to Kingore[45][46]
  6. ^ Power is listed as "Mrs. Edwards Davis" by 1920.[73]
  7. ^ Davis wrote of her death in a spiritualist newsletter The Whisper.[75]

References edit

  1. ^ "Edward Davis Was at One Time a Western Minister". The Moving Picture World. May 31, 1919. p. 1328.
  2. ^ a b "Edwards Davis". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  3. ^ "Preacher is Accused by Actress Wife of Being too Indecent, Asks Divorce". The Morning Press. Santa Barbara, CA. January 18, 1914. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Adele Blood Sues Actor-Clergyman for Divorce". The San Francisco Dramatic Review. January 17, 1914. p. 8.
  5. ^ a b "Acceptable Production of Rather Messy Sex Theme". Wid's Films and Film Folks. March 23, 1916. p. 452.
  6. ^ a b ""The Woman on the Jury" is Feaure Tonight on National Program; Presented by Fine Cast". Madera Mercury. June 23, 1925.
  7. ^ a b c d Hammerton, Cecil (June 1896). "The City of Oaks". The Overland Monthly. Vol. 26, no. 162. pp. 700–701.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hines, Dixie; Hanaford, Harry Prescott (1914). Who's Who in Music and Drama. H.P. Hanaford. pp. 85–86.
  9. ^ Bryan, George B., ed. (1991). Stage Deaths: A Biographical Guide to International Theatrical Obituaries, 1850 to 1990. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-313-27593-7.
  10. ^ Vazzana, Eugene Michael (1995). Silent Film Necrology. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 82. ISBN 9780786401321.
  11. ^ a b c "Character Actor Dies". The Los Angeles Times. May 18, 1936. p. 28.
  12. ^ a b "Edwards Davis". Variety. May 20, 1936. p. 54.
  13. ^ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6PM-Q1L : February 19, 2021), Cader Davis in household of W W Davis, Snelling, Merced, California, United States; citing enumeration district ED 42, sheet 333C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,068.
  14. ^ a b "Once Loved Her. Strange Confession of the Rev. Edwards Davis". Evening Sentinel. January 4, 1899. p. 1.
  15. ^ "Edwards Davis Tells Why He Left the Puplit for a Mask". The Spokane Press. October 24, 1903. p. 4.
  16. ^ "Personal". Colusa Daily Sun. September 20, 1897. W. W. Davis returned to Oakland today... His son, Rev. Edwards Davis, so well known both here and there, is pastor of the First Christian church of Oakland.
  17. ^ "William Wallace Davis is Stricken by Death". The San Francisco Call. June 10, 1907. He is survived by three sons: Charles W. Davis of Portland, Ore., Gideon Davis, president of the Oakland Herald...and Edwards Davis of New York.
  18. ^ "Last Rites Held for Gideon Davis". Oakland Tribune. December 25, 1946. p. 7.
  19. ^ "A Newspaper Man Weded". The San Francisco Call. May 19, 1897. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Edwards Davis, brother of the groom
  20. ^ "Actors and Clergy". The Sunday Star. Washington, D.C. June 15, 1924.
  21. ^ Annual Catalogue of the College of the Bible, 1891–92. Lexington, KY. 1892. p. 4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  22. ^ Catalogue of Kentucky University, 1892–93. Lexington, KY. 1893. p. 31.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ "The Local News". Colusa Daily Sun. December 16, 1895. Edwards Davis, widely known as the poet-preacher...
  24. ^ a b "How He Draws the Crowd; A Young Preacher Poses as Oscar Wilde and Recites Shakespeare in the Pulpit". The Islander. Friday Harbor, WA. March 28, 1895.
  25. ^ "Echoes from the Green Room". The Theatre. London. December 1, 1896. p. 358.
  26. ^ "Edwards Davis Reappears". Town Talk. San Francisco. July 16, 1910. pp. 14–15.
  27. ^ "The Reverend Mr. Davis Does Not Desire to Carry Out His Programme". Los Angeles Herald. May 5, 1895. p. 2.
  28. ^ ""Pope Bob" is Defended". The San Francisco Call. June 6, 1898. p. 5.
  29. ^ a b McConnell, Virginia A. (2001). Sympathy for the Devil: The Emmanuel Baptist Murders of old San Francisco. Westport, Conn: Praeger. pp. 246–247. ISBN 978-0-275-97054-3.
  30. ^ "Not Afraid of Lions". The San Francisco Call. November 28, 1897. p. 2.
  31. ^ "Married by a Justice". The San Francisco Call. November 30, 1897. p. 5.
  32. ^ "Former Minister Will be Seen at Orpheum". The Sunday Oregonian. June 26, 1910. p. 9.
  33. ^ a b "A Durrant Echo". Los Angeles Herald. January 23, 1898. p. 2.
  34. ^ a b Diogenes (January 15, 1898). "Plain Talks to Public Characters". The Wasp. Vol. 39, no. 3. pp. 8–9.
  35. ^ a b "Bulletin must go to court". The San Francisco Call. January 9, 1898. p. 11. Retrieved January 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Rev. Edwards Davis May be Expelled". San Francisco Call. January 8, 1898.
  37. ^ "Left the Pulpit". San Francisco Call. January 24, 1898.
  38. ^ "A Bride From the Choir". The San Francisco Examiner. January 30, 1898.
  39. ^ "Pulpit and Choir to be United". The San Francisco Call. January 11, 1898. p. 11.
  40. ^ "The Actor Preacher Ousted". The San Francisco Call. May 2, 1898. p. 9.
  41. ^ "Edwards Davis Under the Ban". The San Francisco Call. August 3, 1898. p. 10.
  42. ^ a b "Life Troubles of Three Prominent Ministers". The San Francisco Call. April 18, 1900. p. 12.
  43. ^ "Topics in California". The New-York Tribune. April 22, 1900. p. 10. Davis, after his retirement from the church, joined Charles Coghlan's company and remained with it till Coghlan's death. His wife also went on the stage, but illness compelled her to return to the home of her parents, in Oakland.
  44. ^ "Rev. Edwards is in New York". Oakland Tribune. May 14, 1900. p. 4.
  45. ^ a b "Rev. Davis' Mad Love For His Pretty Wife". Oakland Tribune. April 19, 1900. p. 1.
  46. ^ "Love's Fire in Davis' Letters". San Francisco Call. April 20, 1900. p. 9.
  47. ^ "Edwards James as a Stage Manager. The Oakland Preacher Who Used to Dance in His Pulpit is Heard from Again". Colusa Daily Sun. December 29, 1900.
  48. ^ "Downing's New Play". The Topeka State Journal. February 2, 1901. p. 11.
  49. ^ "Edwards Davis Engages to Play at the Alcazar". The San Francisco Call. August 12, 1903.
  50. ^ Fischer, Will H. (October 21, 1903). "Actor Edwards Davis Once Dancing Preacher". The Spokane Press. p. 5.
  51. ^ "Edwards Signs Contract to Tread Boards in Home City". The San Francisco Call. July 7, 1903. p. 9.
  52. ^ "Edwards Davis is Roasted. The Oakland Enquirer Does Not Like the Tragedy Written by the Preacher". Colusa Daily Sun. July 28, 1903. p. 1.
  53. ^ a b "Edwards Davis". The Moving Picture World. November 1915. p. 1643.
  54. ^ a b Silverman, Sime (August 25, 1906). "Edwards Davis and Company. "The Unmasking." Keith's". Variety. p. 8.
  55. ^ Young, George M. (September 22, 1906). "Correspondence: Philadelphia, PA". Variety. p. 11.
  56. ^ "Poetry Invades Vaudeville". Goodwin's Weekly. July 19, 1913. p. 10. ISSN 2163-6737.
  57. ^ Tanitch, Robert (1999). Oscar Wilde on Stage and Screen. London: Methuen. p. 371. ISBN 978-0-413-72610-0.
  58. ^ "The Two Hours Traffic of the Stage". Newark evening Star and Newark Advertiser. June 1, 1915. p. 10.
  59. ^ ""Daddies" Charms First Nighters at Belasco Theatre". The New York Clipper. September 11, 1918. p. 10.
  60. ^ "One of the Daddies". The Sun. New York. February 23, 1919. p. 4.
  61. ^ "Edwards Davis Heads N.V.A." The New York Clipper. May 21, 1919.
  62. ^ a b c "Edwards Davis". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 18, 1936. p. 17. ProQuest 101885695. Retrieved January 30, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  63. ^ "Edward Davis Elected Pres. of Nat'l Vaudeville Artists". Variety. May 16, 1919. p. 7.
  64. ^ Foster, Charles (2000). Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-55002-348-0.
  65. ^ "Four Fox Pictures Released This Month from the 5th". Motion Picture News. December 18, 1915. p. 55.
  66. ^ Denig, Lynde (March 11, 1916). "The Strength of the Weak". The Moving Picture World. p. 1659.
  67. ^ Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual. New York: Motion Picture News, Inc. 1918. p. 197.
  68. ^ a b "Preacher Forsakes Pulpit for Movies". Madera Mercury. June 27, 1924.
  69. ^ Motion Picture News Blue Book. New York: Motion Picture News, Inc. 1930. p. 60.
  70. ^ Wilk, Ralph (June 16, 1930). "A Little from "Lots"". The Film Daily. p. 39.
  71. ^ "Fraternities of the Screen". The Motion Picture Director. Vol. 11, no. 7. February 1926. pp. 58+60.
  72. ^ Davis, Edwards (1934). Lovers of Life: An Epic Biography of a Soul. New York: The Baker and Taylor Co. OCLC 4425545.
  73. ^ Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual. New York: Motion Picture News, Inc. 1920. p. 278.
  74. ^ "Film-Stage Star Dead". Evening Star. AP. February 15, 1932. p. B-7.
  75. ^ Davis, Edwards (October 1932). "(Untitled)" (PDF). The Whisper. Vol. 1, no. 5. Montague, MI. pp. 4–6.

External links edit

 
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May 07, 2024
edwards, davis, cader, june, 1873, 1936, american, actor, producer, playwright, vaudeville, silent, film, known, character, actor, born, raised, francisco, area, ordained, christian, minister, first, achieved, prominence, sensational, orator, lecturer, becomin. Cader Edwards Davis June 17 1873 May 16 1936 was an American actor producer and playwright of vaudeville and the silent film era known as a character actor Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area he was an ordained Christian minister and first achieved prominence as a sensational orator and lecturer becoming known as the poet preacher and the Talmage of the West before leaving the pulpit for an acting career He wrote and starred in several original plays and vaudeville sketches and appeared in over 50 films In New York he was a president of the National Vaudeville Artists Association and the Green Room Club In Hollywood he was a founder and president of the Masonic 233 Club He was married to several actresses including Adele Blood who also appeared in some of his productions Edwards DavisBornCader Edwards Davis 1873 06 17 June 17 1873Santa Clara California U S DiedMay 16 1936 1936 05 16 aged 62 Hollywood California U S OccupationActorSpousesMagaret Kingore m 1898 div 1900 wbr Adele Blood m 1906 div 1914 wbr Jule Power died 1932 wbr Signature Contents 1 Early years and ministry 2 Vaudeville and Broadway 3 Film 4 Partial filmography 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksEarly years and ministry editCader Edwards Davis a was born June 17 1873 in Santa Clara California and raised in nearby Oakland 7 8 b His father William Wallace Davis was a noted agriculturalist 16 17 and his brother Gideon became an advertising executive and editor of the Oakland Herald 18 19 He attended Washington College before earning an M A at the University of Kentucky 8 20 c nbsp Davis became a popular sensational orator He began his ministry with short pastorates in Sullivan and Mattoon Illinois before returning to California where he was pastor at Oakland s Central Christian Church for four years 8 He gained a reputation as an orator and lecturer and was known as the poet preacher 23 and the Talmage of the West 7 14 In less than two years membership in his congregation tripled and audiences swelled to see the minister dubbed by the New York Tribune actor preacher a word painter a patron of the waltz and the most popular preacher in the city 7 He enacted scenes from Richard III in sermon to an audience of fifteen hundred people and on another occasion sought to illustrate the innocence of dancing by giving representations of the waltz 24 He added footlights to his pulpit 25 A writer for the San Francisco Town Talk recalled as a clergyman Edwards Davis was skilled in the arts of advertising He was always doing something to attract attention to himself He rode a wheel before bicycling became common he wore a claw hammer in the pulpit he waltzed for his congregation 26 He was an admirer of Irish author Oscar Wilde and often billed himself as the American Oscar Wilde a moniker originated by newspapers but dropped the nickname after Wilde s arrest for gross indecency 27 24 He defended agnostic orator Robert G Ingersoll 28 He offered to officiate a wedding in a lion cage at San Francisco s Chutes amusement park 29 30 d The Oregonian wrote Davis preaching ever bordered on the spectacular His enemies said he did more harm to the church than good his friends said he was one of the mainstays of the denomination 32 In early 1898 Davis became involved in a case involving convicted murderer Theodore Durrant that eventually led to Davis resigning from his church 33 Davis visited Durrant in prison on January 6 the night before his execution ostensibly to offer spiritual council but was later suspected of being sent by the San Francisco Examiner to obtain an interview 29 34 As reported by the San Francisco Evening Bulletin the next day Davis had come in the service of a morning newspaper and as he left Durrant s cell a scrimmage broke out in which Davis was very frightened Durrant s father shouted God Haven t you any respect for a minister of the gospel A prizefighter who had been accompanying Davis attempted to intervene was thwarted by a guard with a gun and Davis was escorted to his carriage 35 The prizefighter was thought to be a bodyguard hired by the Examiner Davis claimed libel and sued the Bulletin for 50 000 35 The affair arose controversy within his church 36 and the public 34 and he resigned from his ministry on January 23 1898 33 37 One week later he married Alta Margaret Alice Kingore a choir singer from his congregation 38 39 In May 1898 Davis was accused of a variety of misconducts including drunkenness and associating with loose characters 40 In August a group of California ministers issued a proclamation stating he was no longer allowed to preach in the state 41 nbsp Davis in The Unmasking in which he made over 1 000 performancesVaudeville and Broadway editDavis and his wife Kingore moved to New York where after secular business plans failed they found themselves stranded 42 His New York stage debut was in January 1889 with a one line role as the Viceroy of India in The Cherry Pickers 8 He toured with Charles Coghlan s company in The Royal Box until Coghlan s November 1899 death 43 and with Charles Frohman s The Adventures of Lady Ursula in 1900 44 Kingore also went into theatre after Davis was incapacitated for several weeks with a broken foot In April 1900 Kingore filed for divorce while Davis was on tour 42 45 e and by December of that year he was stage manager for a Chicago production of The Devil and a Swede 47 His first play The Seventh Commandment premiered in 1901 starring Robert Downing with Davis in a supporting role 8 48 He spent the next few years with various companies including Belasco and Mayer s The Dairy Farm which premiered at San Francisco s Alcazar Theatre in August 1903 49 50 In the summer of 1903 Davis premiered and starred in a play of his own writing a tragedy called The Unmasking which debuted in Oakland 51 The play was panned by the Oakland Enquirer which called it simply gross unredeemed by the spurious and shallow sentimentality with which it reeks 52 He would perform The Unmasking over 1 000 times which gained the distinction of being the first successful tragedy to be performed in vaudeville 8 53 Davis and his company brought The Unmasking onto the vaudeville circuit in 1905 touring the Orpheum Chain before making a New York City premiere in August 1906 at Keith s Union Square Theatre 54 A reviewer for Goodwin s Weekly called it a great piece of work uniquely modeled and beautifully finished cannot be too highly commended while reviews in Variety included it requires attention and trimming 54 and Suffers from being overacted It was beautifully staged 55 nbsp Davis right in The Strength of the Weak alongside Mary Fuller and Harry Hilliard Other original works by Davis included All Rivers Meet at Sea The Kingdom of Destiny 56 and a dramatization of the Oscar Wilde novel The Picture of Dorian Gray 8 which is among the book s earliest adaptations 57 Another play The Blessed and The Damned premiered at the Newark Theatre New Jersey in May 1915 58 In New York City his Broadway appearances included Daddies 1918 19 produced by David Belasco 59 60 He was a three term president prompter of the Green Room Club 61 and was elected president of the National Vaudeville Artists Association in 1919 62 63 Film editDavis appeared in over 50 films from the silent era into early talkies 64 and was known as a character actor 11 He had early film roles in Frederick Thomson s Her Mother s Secret 1915 65 and Lucius Henderson s The Strength of the Weak 1916 53 His performance in the latter was described as too artificial and melodramatic to be convincing by The Moving Picture World 66 while Wid s Films and Film Folk called Davis a splendid type who gave a smooth performance with the exception of a number of places where he was inclined to register his gestures with a little too much of the theatrical touch 5 By 1918 his film appearances included A Circus Romance Who s Guilty The Daughter of MacGregor Transgression The Victim Bab s Matinee Idol Dodging a Million and De Luxe Annie 67 68 Davis film roles in the 1920s included The New York Idea 1920 The Plaything of Broadway 1921 Hook and Ladder 1924 and The Woman on the Jury 1924 68 6 The second half of the decade saw Davis in A Hero on Horseback 1927 A Reno Divorce 1927 The Life of Riley 1928 Happiness Ahead 1928 The Sporting Age 1928 A Song of Kentucky 1929 69 and Madam Satan 1930 70 nbsp Margaret Kingore nbsp Adele Blood nbsp Jule PowerDavis was married to three actresses In Hollywood Davis was a founder and president of the 233 Club 62 a Masonic organization of actors and motion picture workers 71 In his later years he wrote a book entitled Lovers of Life An Epic Biography of a Soul 11 72 On November 25 1906 Davis married the actress Adele Blood who was a lead in The Unmasking 8 They divorced in 1914 and he was later married to the actress Jule Power f who was named in his divorce from Blood Power died in 1932 74 g and Davis died in Hollywood on May 16 1936 after a two year illness 62 12 Partial filmography editDe Luxe Annie 1918 Kildare of Storm 1918 The Love Cheat 1919 The Invisible Ray 1920 The Right Way 1921 The Plaything of Broadway 1921 The Sea Hawk 1924 The Only Woman 1924 On the Stroke of Three 1924 Stolen Secrets 1924 Tainted Money 1924 The Price She Paid 1924 Her Husband s Secret 1925 My Neighbor s Wife 1925 Not So Long Ago 1925 The Splendid Road 1925 The Part Time Wife 1925 Flattery 1925 Joanna 1925 High Steppers 1926 Tramp Tramp Tramp 1926 The Amateur Gentleman 1926 On the Front Page 1926 Butterflies in the Rain 1926 The Hero on Horseback 1927 Face Value 1927 Singed 1927 The Life of Riley 1927 Winds of the Pampas 1927 Madonna of the Streets 1930 Notes edit Davis is also sometimes known as Edward Davis 1 2 Cader Russell Davis 3 4 and J Edwards Davis 5 6 Sources differ on his year of birth it stated as 1867 in Stage Deaths 1991 9 and Silent Film Necrology 1995 10 and Internet Broadway Database 2 and as 1873 in Who s Who in Music and Drama 1914 8 and an Overland Monthly article 7 His age at death is recorded as 65 in contemporary obituaries 11 12 However His age is recorded as 7 in the 1880 U S Census 13 and as 25 in a January 1899 news article 14 Davis himself wrote he left his former profession as preacher before age 25 15 Cader Davis of Oakland Cal is listed as a student in the Kentucky University College of the Bible in 1891 92 and 1892 93 sessions 21 22 The proposed lion cage wedding did not occur 31 The Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Call published several letters from Davis to Kingore 45 46 Power is listed as Mrs Edwards Davis by 1920 73 Davis wrote of her death in a spiritualist newsletter The Whisper 75 References edit Edward Davis Was at One Time a Western Minister The Moving Picture World May 31 1919 p 1328 a b Edwards Davis Internet Broadway Database Retrieved May 31 2021 Preacher is Accused by Actress Wife of Being too Indecent Asks Divorce The Morning Press Santa Barbara CA January 18 1914 p 1 Adele Blood Sues Actor Clergyman for Divorce The San Francisco Dramatic Review January 17 1914 p 8 a b Acceptable Production of Rather Messy Sex Theme Wid s Films and Film Folks March 23 1916 p 452 a b The Woman on the Jury is Feaure Tonight on National Program Presented by Fine Cast Madera Mercury June 23 1925 a b c d Hammerton Cecil June 1896 The City of Oaks The Overland Monthly Vol 26 no 162 pp 700 701 a b c d e f g h i Hines Dixie Hanaford Harry Prescott 1914 Who s Who in Music and Drama H P Hanaford pp 85 86 Bryan George B ed 1991 Stage Deaths A Biographical Guide to International Theatrical Obituaries 1850 to 1990 New York Greenwood Press p 334 ISBN 978 0 313 27593 7 Vazzana Eugene Michael 1995 Silent Film Necrology Jefferson N C McFarland p 82 ISBN 9780786401321 a b c Character Actor Dies The Los Angeles Times May 18 1936 p 28 a b Edwards Davis Variety May 20 1936 p 54 United States Census 1880 database with images FamilySearch https familysearch org ark 61903 1 1 M6PM Q1L February 19 2021 Cader Davis in household of W W Davis Snelling Merced California United States citing enumeration district ED 42 sheet 333C NARA microfilm publication T9 Washington D C National Archives and Records Administration n d FHL microfilm 1 254 068 a b Once Loved Her Strange Confession of the Rev Edwards Davis Evening Sentinel January 4 1899 p 1 Edwards Davis Tells Why He Left the Puplit for a Mask The Spokane Press October 24 1903 p 4 Personal Colusa Daily Sun September 20 1897 W W Davis returned to Oakland today His son Rev Edwards Davis so well known both here and there is pastor of the First Christian church of Oakland William Wallace Davis is Stricken by Death The San Francisco Call June 10 1907 He is survived by three sons Charles W Davis of Portland Ore Gideon Davis president of the Oakland Herald and Edwards Davis of New York Last Rites Held for Gideon Davis Oakland Tribune December 25 1946 p 7 A Newspaper Man Weded The San Francisco Call May 19 1897 The ceremony was performed by Rev Edwards Davis brother of the groom Actors and Clergy The Sunday Star Washington D C June 15 1924 Annual Catalogue of the College of the Bible 1891 92 Lexington KY 1892 p 4 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Catalogue of Kentucky University 1892 93 Lexington KY 1893 p 31 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link The Local News Colusa Daily Sun December 16 1895 Edwards Davis widely known as the poet preacher a b How He Draws the Crowd A Young Preacher Poses as Oscar Wilde and Recites Shakespeare in the Pulpit The Islander Friday Harbor WA March 28 1895 Echoes from the Green Room The Theatre London December 1 1896 p 358 Edwards Davis Reappears Town Talk San Francisco July 16 1910 pp 14 15 The Reverend Mr Davis Does Not Desire to Carry Out His Programme Los Angeles Herald May 5 1895 p 2 Pope Bob is Defended The San Francisco Call June 6 1898 p 5 a b McConnell Virginia A 2001 Sympathy for the Devil The Emmanuel Baptist Murders of old San Francisco Westport Conn Praeger pp 246 247 ISBN 978 0 275 97054 3 Not Afraid of Lions The San Francisco Call November 28 1897 p 2 Married by a Justice The San Francisco Call November 30 1897 p 5 Former Minister Will be Seen at Orpheum The Sunday Oregonian June 26 1910 p 9 a b A Durrant Echo Los Angeles Herald January 23 1898 p 2 a b Diogenes January 15 1898 Plain Talks to Public Characters The Wasp Vol 39 no 3 pp 8 9 a b Bulletin must go to court The San Francisco Call January 9 1898 p 11 Retrieved January 31 2021 via Newspapers com Rev Edwards Davis May be Expelled San Francisco Call January 8 1898 Left the Pulpit San Francisco Call January 24 1898 A Bride From the Choir The San Francisco Examiner January 30 1898 Pulpit and Choir to be United The San Francisco Call January 11 1898 p 11 The Actor Preacher Ousted The San Francisco Call May 2 1898 p 9 Edwards Davis Under the Ban The San Francisco Call August 3 1898 p 10 a b Life Troubles of Three Prominent Ministers The San Francisco Call April 18 1900 p 12 Topics in California The New York Tribune April 22 1900 p 10 Davis after his retirement from the church joined Charles Coghlan s company and remained with it till Coghlan s death His wife also went on the stage but illness compelled her to return to the home of her parents in Oakland Rev Edwards is in New York Oakland Tribune May 14 1900 p 4 a b Rev Davis Mad Love For His Pretty Wife Oakland Tribune April 19 1900 p 1 Love s Fire in Davis Letters San Francisco Call April 20 1900 p 9 Edwards James as a Stage Manager The Oakland Preacher Who Used to Dance in His Pulpit is Heard from Again Colusa Daily Sun December 29 1900 Downing s New Play The Topeka State Journal February 2 1901 p 11 Edwards Davis Engages to Play at the Alcazar The San Francisco Call August 12 1903 Fischer Will H October 21 1903 Actor Edwards Davis Once Dancing Preacher The Spokane Press p 5 Edwards Signs Contract to Tread Boards in Home City The San Francisco Call July 7 1903 p 9 Edwards Davis is Roasted The Oakland Enquirer Does Not Like the Tragedy Written by the Preacher Colusa Daily Sun July 28 1903 p 1 a b Edwards Davis The Moving Picture World November 1915 p 1643 a b Silverman Sime August 25 1906 Edwards Davis and Company The Unmasking Keith s Variety p 8 Young George M September 22 1906 Correspondence Philadelphia PA Variety p 11 Poetry Invades Vaudeville Goodwin s Weekly July 19 1913 p 10 ISSN 2163 6737 Tanitch Robert 1999 Oscar Wilde on Stage and Screen London Methuen p 371 ISBN 978 0 413 72610 0 The Two Hours Traffic of the Stage Newark evening Star and Newark Advertiser June 1 1915 p 10 Daddies Charms First Nighters at Belasco Theatre The New York Clipper September 11 1918 p 10 One of the Daddies The Sun New York February 23 1919 p 4 Edwards Davis Heads N V A The New York Clipper May 21 1919 a b c Edwards Davis The New York Times Associated Press May 18 1936 p 17 ProQuest 101885695 Retrieved January 30 2021 via ProQuest Edward Davis Elected Pres of Nat l Vaudeville Artists Variety May 16 1919 p 7 Foster Charles 2000 Stardust and Shadows Canadians in Early Hollywood Toronto Dundurn Press p 235 ISBN 978 1 55002 348 0 Four Fox Pictures Released This Month from the 5th Motion Picture News December 18 1915 p 55 Denig Lynde March 11 1916 The Strength of the Weak The Moving Picture World p 1659 Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual New York Motion Picture News Inc 1918 p 197 a b Preacher Forsakes Pulpit for Movies Madera Mercury June 27 1924 Motion Picture News Blue Book New York Motion Picture News Inc 1930 p 60 Wilk Ralph June 16 1930 A Little from Lots The Film Daily p 39 Fraternities of the Screen The Motion Picture Director Vol 11 no 7 February 1926 pp 58 60 Davis Edwards 1934 Lovers of Life An Epic Biography of a Soul New York The Baker and Taylor Co OCLC 4425545 Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual New York Motion Picture News Inc 1920 p 278 Film Stage Star Dead Evening Star AP February 15 1932 p B 7 Davis Edwards October 1932 Untitled PDF The Whisper Vol 1 no 5 Montague MI pp 4 6 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edwards Davis Edwards Davis at IMDb Edwards Davis at the Internet Broadway Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Edwards Davis amp oldid 1191821176, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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