Should Jock have been re-cast immediately after Jim Davis passed away?

darkshadows38

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honestly i have no idea as always say it depends on who would be cast and how it would be written cause sometimes when they recast a role it works even better but other times it's an epic failure.
 

Jock's Ghost

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Morgan Woodward, who played PUNK ANDERSON, was originally offered the part of JOCK. He deferred to his friend Jim Davis who he felt had some rough years at the time and needed a big break. Ironically we would have had Woodward until 2019 when he passed away. ALL those years of DALLAS with Jock....
 

darkshadows38

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i know right if he had taken the role we would have been saying the same thing about his Jock i'm sure than over Jim Davis. i've seen some of Davis film work i can see why he didn't hit it big. now don't get me wrong i'm not saying he's an awful actor i think he when he was older and had acted quite a lot by than was good in the role.

but he did Winter Meeting (1948) with Bette Davis and he was really bad in it
 

Jock Ewing Fan

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But surely Jim Davis was a good actor? Maybe not a leading man actor but still a good actor? :)
Jim Davis was a good actor. Like many, he is better suited for some roles and not others.
One contrast, while not definitive, was his performance in some low budget movies.
"Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter" (1966) and "Dracula V Frankenstein" (1971)
were terrible films (although fun to watch!).
You could see how Jim Davis was still professional in his roles and how much more capable as an actor he was,
compared to the rest of the cast.
 

Barbara Fan

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I have to say that I dont think Jim Davis was one of the best actors on the show and I found his performances at times a little hammy - none more than Bypass - when he clutches his chest and rolls his eyes - as a schoolgirl at the time I giggled - much the same as early Sue Ellen with the eyes a rollin and lips a tremblin acting

I thought he was good as Jock Ewing but Howard Keel was a better actor
I did see Winter meeting with Miss Davis and can see why it flopped!!

and BBG was 1922, Have never read that Morgan Woodward was offered the part of Jock, Jim Davis knew and had worked with Katzman in the 50s and 60s and was 1st choice as Jock Ewing
 

southfork88

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Certainly Howard Keel was overall a better actor than Jim Davis, but as Jock Ewing he was perfect.

Bette Davis had specifically chosen Jim for that film starring her. Being quite picky, I think she chose carefully. On the other hand, she did not consider Errol Flynn on her level.

Was she all wrong?
 

LMLDallas78

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Jim Davis wasn't perfect, and I agree occasionally his acting wasn't the best, but he was so damn good in the role of Jock. Viewers were very fond of him. He could manage to convey emotion, toughness and unintentional comedy.

@Barbara Fan you are correct, katzman had previously worked with Jim who took him under his wing and so was his first choice for Jock (according to a newspaper cutting I have).
 

Toni

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darkshadows38

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i've seen Davis in some films and he was simply awful in them and i've seen in him films where he was fine. i dunno what Davis thought of his Performance and i didn't think he was good in Winter Meeting (1948) by than her films were flopping like Winter Meeting was a flop and in the last couple of years of the 40's her films were flopping Sunset Blvd. (1950) wasn't that the one she was in? that was her biggest hit in years there and the best script she ever read she always said too.

but i don't think Jim Davis was a brilliant actor as i said there were roles he was good in and other roles were he was bad. personally there were times on Dallas i thought he was awful but than you had some parts he was really good such as when he did that Scene with Miss Ellie when she was going to have surgery. he was good in that scene i think. sometimes i think it depends on who is the director and if the script is tight and good writing is abound.

it also helps if the actor/actress gives a damn about the role and the script too, i do think Davis loved the show though but each director is different and some can get magic from it's cast like William Wyler for example from Bette Davis. but with a show like Dallas good acting and bad acting regardless who in the scene had in it and it had a good script. a good director can get a good performance out of it's cast and Dallas didn't always have that i don't think. kinda reminds me of Dark shadows when it went Full supernatural they started to have the cast in certain scenes ham it up as much as possible and they'd get grades for that & that didn't always help a Performance it hurt i think. kinda how like Victoria Principal could be good really good on Dallas but than she could also in some scenes be really bad too it really varied its' weird how that happens sometimes.
 

Snarky Oracle!

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@darkshadows38

To my knowledge Bette wasnt in Sunset Boulevard, that was Gloria Swanson.

Are you thinking of All about Eve?? That was a huge success for Bette Davis.

I've known unsophisticated film fans who swoon at Bette Davis' "performance" in SUNSET BLVD. -- and I had an impossible time convincing him that it wasn't Bette Davis.

Swanson and Davis were both Sun in Aries/Scorpio Rising -- so it might be an understandable error. So was Charlie Chaplin, which is why Swanson does such a convincing impersonation of him in SUNSET BLVD.

giphy.gif
 

darkshadows38

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thank you you are right it's i think All About Eve (1950) from my understanding the films are quite similar i was too damn lazy to look it up and that's why i put the question mark on there when i said which film it was. as for Jim Davis i'm not denying he wasn't good in the role but his acting really varied i think. i love Dallas but it had a lot of really bad acting. Linda Grey could really be bad in some but in other parts could be good i think i also say the same thing about Dark Shadows as well on that one you had Nancy Barret that when she's not scared is a pretty damn good actress but have her be scared or Grayson Hall another good actress who won i think an oscar i want to say? for Night of the Blue Iguana (1964) when she got kidnapped during Dark Shadows she's really painful to watch that's how bad she is.


than you had Charlene who i think did her worst acting that i can think of off the top of my head in the episode she was kidnapped in wow is that episode so hard to watch. now don't get me wrong i'm not saying the entire show was bad acting it wasn't there are times on the show that it did and could have the cast give a good or great Performance BBG is a good example where her performance varied but she could really be good on the show too. i really wonder who would be considered the worst ? i mean since i haven't seen the entire run yet. Yes Howard Keel was a great actor and he was a far Better actor than Jim Davis in fact i've watched some of his musicals in this past year or so he had one hell of a voice. though the one i've seen a lot of his early 50's work anyways is David Wayne he was in a few musicals too and he was quite good it's a wonder why he wasn't used more? i love Keenan Wynn he was a really great actor but when he played Digger especially when he was in the hospital he talked like he had cotton in his much i always have trouble understanding him my guess it was the Booze cause Wynn like Digger was a drinker in real life too.

i've watched some of his early 50's stuff too and he looked so much better with a beard. though With Wynn i do think what's really funny and before i forget i guess Wynn's granddaughter is now an actress too apparently. anyways, Bette Davis did a film in the early 70's with him and as someone here said she was able to choose who her leading man was. i dunno if that was for all the films she was in after she made it big in the 30's. but she picked Wynn and the 1st thing she told him was if you are gonna do a movie with me once he agreed to do it is to have a clean shaven face. i forget what else she said on that and he did end up shaving it and his wife apparently said to her THANK YOU i've been trying to get him to shave that thing for i think she said 15 years! i think she Sent her Flowers too i can so see Davis do that too
 

LMLDallas78

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Your above posts are very informative @darkshadows38. I particularly enjoyed reading about David Wayne and Keenan Wynn. I think David Wayne was busy with another show called "House calls" so wasn't able to continue as Digger.
Can't really compare Howard Keel and Jim Davis, they were in different leagues, each brought something special to their roles.

But..... how can you say Linda GRAY could be a bad actress at times? :cry:
Unforgivable.
 

darkshadows38

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i'm sorry she could i'm not saying she's an awful actress but there were some episodes i thought she was bad in and others she was damn good in. sometimes it's the directors fault they don't i don't think always know how to get certain things out of the cast or maybe the various takes she did that was the best one and they didn't have time or the money to try another one? that does happen too in movies and tv. a good example on prolly her worst acting i'd say is in season 1 i think it is? when the house gets held hostage and she's really bad in that scene i'd say that was the worst she had done in that show. she may even agree with me on that i dunno, on how i am my favorite actor of all time is Mickey Rooney and has been since i was a kid so much so i've seen over 100 of his movies i'm not entirely sure of the number i'd have to count them but there were films as good and talented as he was where he was terrible painfully terrible in. you ever see (1976)'s Find The Lady? i have that on VHS and it's a painfully awful film and he's painfully bad in it. i like Brad Pitt as an actor now but there were films he was really bad in ever see cutting Class (1989) holy sh*t is he bad in that one.

he was also really bad in Burn While reading (2008) i think the name of it was? that was also the film that George Clooney was really bad in it and i'm a fan of his as well.
in short i can call out my favorite actors and actress's on if they can give a really bad performance or if they give a good one. so i'm not saying Linda Grey is a terrible actress there were just some episodes she wasn't good in them and others she was really good in them. Patrick Duffy also at times could have used a few more takes and i like him as an actor as well. David Carradine is a favorite and he's done a lot of movies where he gives such a bad performance that it makes it painful to watch.

Charles Bronson another actor i have loved since i was a kid a lot of the films he did he wasn't really good in them and his acting in them was rather weak or bad. but iv'e seen him if it's a good script and a good director give a really damn good performance. that's just how i am i'm not out to hurt anyone's feeling's on if i say someone on a show their love has bad acting in it. Dark Shadows has a lot of bad acting in it and some of it is quite painfully bad and that's a show i love more than Dallas.
 
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