John Davidson

An actor, musician, and ace television host, John Davidson is remembered for entering American homes as a cast member/host of "The Hollywood Squares" and "That's Incredible!" A tall, strikingly handsome young man and the son of Baptist ministers, Davidson became a teen model and later enrolled in Denison University. He had no trouble winning work on Broadway, and was soon discovered by television producer Bob Banner. While rotating from the stage to occasional features and to prime-time variety shows, he quickly built a name for himself, and by 1969 was hosting "The John Davidson Show," a daytime talk show. This was short-lived, though, and Davidson attempted a few other series that didn't quite take off while maintaining a singing career, cutting albums, and turning up on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and holiday TV specials. By the 1970s he found a regular gig appearing on the original "The Hollywood Squares" game show, where he would answer questions and deliver good, clean gags. Meanwhile he was one of the four rotating guest hosts on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," along with Joan Rivers, Joey Bishop, and McLean Stevenson. This led to hosting the popular "That's Incredible" in 1980, which combined amazing stunts with re-enactments of bizarre events. After this ended in 1984, Davidson was asked to host "The New Hollywood Squares," a gig he held for three years. Since then, he has lived in Mexico with his wife, Rhonda, while occasionally dropping into the chat and award show circuit.