John Hamilton Davidson, Sr. (born December 13, 1941) is an American singer, actor and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible!, Time Machine, and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991.
Biography
Davidson was born to two Baptist ministers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from high school in White Plains, New York before entering Denison University. He went on to work in various television roles, including sitcoms, game shows, variety shows, and talk shows. He is perhaps best known for hosting 1980–84's That's Incredible!, a human interest/stunt-themed series created in the tradition of the 1950s television show You Asked for It.
Career
Davidson made his film debut in The Happiest Millionaire in 1967, playing opposite Lesley Ann Warren. The next year saw them co-starring again in The One and Only, Genuine, Original, Family Band.
During an appearance on the game show Scrabble in 1987, he told the national TV audience that he appeared as an underwear model in the 1959 Sears catalogue; he would have been 17 at the time. Davidson made his Broadway debut in the 1964 production of Foxy, which starred Bert Lahr. He also appeared in State Fair in 1996. He was a member of the regular repertory company on the short-lived CBS variety show The Entertainers (1964–65). He made more than one hundred appearances on the original Hollywood Squares during its 1966–1981 run. He was a regular player on many anthology and variety series of the 1970s–1980s, including such shows as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Bobby Goldsboro Show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, Love American Style, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Spenser: For Hire.
John Davidson may refer to:
John Davidson (1797–1836) was an English traveller in Africa.
Early life
He was son of a tailor and army clothier in Cork Street, London, and originally from Kelso, and was born on 23 December 1797. He went to school at a private academy near London, and when sixteen years old at his own request was apprenticed to Savory & Moore, the chemists and druggists, in which he later purchased a partnership.
He became a pupil at St George's Hospital, and entered the University of Edinburgh with the intention of becoming a doctor. His health failing, however, he went to Naples in the autumn of 1827. From Naples he went through Styria and Carniola to Vienna, made an excursion through Poland and Russia, and returned home by way of Hamburg.
Traveller
Davidson went to Egypt at the end of 1829, visited the Pyramids, and passed overland to Cosseir, where he embarked for India on his way to China and Persia. An attack of cholera, however, drove him back to Cosseir. He made an excursion through Arabia, and visited Palestine, Syria, the Greek Isles, Athens, and Constantinople. He collected geographical information, which he later communicated to in papers read to the Royal Society and the Royal Institution of London.
John Davidson (December 25, 1886 – January 16, 1968) was an American film actor. He appeared in 148 films between 1915 and 1963. He was born in New York, New York and died in Los Angeles, California.