Tim Davis (actor)

Tim Davis (born Duane Timston Davis;^[4] March 9, 1924 – October 30, 1982^[5]) was an American child actor, perhaps best known for his voice work in the 1942 Disney animated feature film, Bambi, and his performance in the 1940 film of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, in which he plays the older of the two newsboy siblings—the other portrayed by his real-life younger brother, the then popular radio actor Dix Davis.

Tim Davis
Born	Duane Timston Davis (1924-03-09)March 9, 1924 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	October 30, 1982(1982-10-30) (aged 58) San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Film actor, voice actor
Years active	1934–1942
Known for	Bambi (as Adolescent Thumper and Adult Flower)[1] "Joe Crowell" in Our Town (on stage and on film)[2][3]
Spouse	Barbara Louise Ressel
Relatives	Dix Davis (brother)

Early life and career

A native of Los Angeles, California,^[5] Davis was the older of two sons born to Fredrick Duane Davis and Marion Naomi Stimson.^[4][6] According to an article published in 1942 by the Harrisburg Telegraph, the brothers' transformation from newsboys to thespians occurred in 1934 when a party of passersby led by songwriter Gus Kahn encountered the pair hawking papers in front of The Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard. Advised to report the next morning to United Artists, the brothers did so, and shortly thereafter made their uncredited screen debut in the 1934 Eddie Cantor musical comedy, Kid Millions.^[7]

A rare opportunity to transcend the mostly uncredited and generally insubstantial film work that followed that debut came Davis's way in 1939 with the West Coast premiere of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. In a production boasting "infallibly accurate [...] characterizations" from a cast "too numerous to mention,"^[8] several reviewers nonetheless made a point of citing Davis's work,^[9][8] as seen in this excerpt from The Hollywood Reporter:

The presentation on a bare stage is by now an old story, but the spell woven over the audience by Frank Craven as narrator, and the delineations by James Spottswood, Tim Davis, Martha Scott, Thomas Coley, Tom Fadden, Anne Shoemaker, Helen Carew and all the others of the large cast made it possible to build without losing the audience.^[10]

Personal life and death

On December 14, 1942, roughly 4 months after the release of Bambi (and a year after U.S.'s entry into World War II), the trade publication Broadcasting reported that Davis had resigned from NBC Hollywood and joined the United States Navy.^[11] This appears to be the last contemporaneous news coverage of Tim Davis. However he fared otherwise, he did at least survive the war, and married at least once, on September 27, 1953, to Barbara Louise Ressel.^[12] Davis died at age 58 in San Luis Obispo on October 30, 1982.^[5]

Partial filmography

• Kid Millions (1934) - Little Boy in Ice Cream Number (uncredited)^[7]
• Riders of the Dawn (1937) - Dad Moran's son (uncredited)^[13]
• Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts (1937) - Tommy Kent (uncredited)^[14]
• Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937) - Boy Sitting at Table behind Georgia Jean LaRue and Philip McMahon in 'Club Spanky' scene (uncredited)^[15]
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) - Schoolboy (uncredited)
• The Little Ranger (1938) - Member of Butch's gang (uncredited)^[16]
• Aladdin's Lantern (1938) - Boy Sitting Behind Gary (uncredited)^[17]
• Gambling Ship (1938) – Nick^[18]
• Feathered Pests (1939) - Kid^[19]
• Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939) – Jackie^[14]
• The Marshal of Mesa City (1939) – Unknown role (uncredited)^[20]
• Captain Spanky's Show Boat (1940) - Blonde Kid Behind Butch (uncredited)
• Our Town (1940) - Joe Crowell^[21]
• Nice Girl? (1940) - Newsboy (uncredited)^[22]
• Citizen Kane (1941) - Copy boy (uncredited)^[23]
• Bambi (1942) - Adolescent Thumper and Adult Flower (voice)^[1]

References

1. McGill, Thomas (1985). Magill's Cinema Annual, 1985 : A Survey of 1984 Films. Jefferson, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Salem Press. p. 543. ISBN 0-89356-404-4.
2. Crow, James Frances (April 11, 1939). 'Our Town' Applauded at Biltmore". Los Angeles Evening Citizen-News. p. 12.
3. Tinee, Mae (July 28, 1940). "'Our Town Is Delightful Film of Small Town'". Chicago Tribune. pt. 6, pg. 4. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
4. "Deaths: Davis, Mary N.". Los Angeles Times. pt. II, p. 11. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
5. "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.
6. "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.
7. "Young Crestfallen Manor Bellhop Is Studio Veteran". Harrisburg Telegraph. March 14, 1942. p. 27.
8. "'Our Town' Applauded at Biltmore". Los Angeles Evening Citizen-News. April 11, 1939. p. 12. February 18, 2024.
9. Mines, Harry (April 11, 1939). "Thornton Wilder Discusses Life in 'Our Town'". Los Angeles Daily News. p. 20. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
10. "'Our Town' Certain Must See Offering". The Hollywood Reporter. April 11, 1939. p. 2. ProQuest 2297956248. Performed with consummate artistry by each individual cast member, the offering rated—and got—plenty of applause from the firstnighters. The presentation on a bare stage is by now an old story, but the spell woven over the audience by Frank Craven as narrator, and the delineations by James Spottswood, Tim Davis, Martha Scott, Thomas Coley, Tom Fadden, Anne Shoemaker, Helen Carew and all the others of the large cast made it possible to build without losing the audience.
11. "Behind the Mike". Broadcasting. December 14, 1942. p. 35. ProQuest 1014965409. TIM DAVIS has resigned from the recording department of NBC Hollywood, to join the Navy.
12. "California, County Marriages, 1850-1953", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K86H-ZN9 : Thu Oct 19 16:53:48 UTC 2023), Entry for Duane Stimson Davis and Barbara Louise Ressel, 27 Sep 1953.
13. McClure, Arthur F.; Jones, Ken D. (1972). Heroes, Heavies and Sagebrush: A Pictorial History of the "B" Western Players. A. S. Barnes. p. 298. ISBN 9780498077876.
14. Tim Davis filmography. American Film Institute.
15. "Our Gang Follies Of 1938, film no. 162; Club Spanky extras". TheLuckyCorner.com.
16. "The Little Ranger, film no. 170; the kids". TheLuckyCorner.com.
17. "The Little Ranger, film no. 172; audience members". TheLuckyCorner.com.
18. Pitts, Michael R. (2004). Famous Movie Detectives III. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 19. ISBN 0-8108-3690-4.
19. Maltin, Leonard (1972). Selected Short Subjects From Spanky to the Three Stooges. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-306-80204-X.
20. "Youths Flip Coin for Screen Role". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. October 31, 1939. p. 9. ProQuest 1927687995. Hollywood—Director David Howard recently found himself in the role of a modern Solomon when he had to choose between two youngsters for an important role in the George O'Brien RKO outdoor drama, 'The Marshall of Mesa City.' Tim Davis and Sammy McKim, 14-year-old moppets, fitted the role so perfectly it was difficult for Howard to decide. Young McKim, sensing the director's dilemma, suggested they flip a coin. Davis won.
21. "Casts of Current Pictures". Photoplay. July 1940. p. 80.
22. Lowe, Barry (2024). Deanna Durbin in Hollywood: Her Life, Films and Music. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-4766-8533-5.
23. White, Rob; Buscombe, Edward (2003). British Film Institute Film Classics, Volume 1. London: British Film Institute. p. 479. ISBN 1-57958-328-8./

Further reading

• Hischak, Thomas S. (2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-6271-1. pp. 55–56.

External links

• Tim Davis at IMDb