Duane Davis is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

who has been in such

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s as ''

Under Siege ''Under Siege'' is a 1992 American action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis, written by J. F. Lawton, and starring Steven Seagal as a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, led by Tommy Lee Jones, after they commandeer the ...

'', '' The Program'', ''

Ghosts of Mars ''Ghosts of Mars'' (titled onscreen as ''John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars'') is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film written, directed and scored by John Carpenter. It was produced by Screen Gems and distributed by Sony Pictures Re ...

'', and ''

Paparazzi Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...

''.

Early life

Davis was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and is the son of

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Hall of Fame

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Willie Davis and Ann Davis. At the age of two he moved to Wisconsin. Davis played college football at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

but suffered a knee injury in his sophomore and senior year.

Acting career

He has made something of a career of playing athletes—famous or otherwise. Davis played an athlete in the 1988 film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. In 1991, Davis starred as

Texas State Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

wide receiver Featherstone in '' Necessary Roughness'', and he said he did not have to act much as a wide receiver who could not catch passes. Davis pulled his hamstring during filming of the movie but said it was one of his most enjoyable roles. He was in the 1992 Stephen Seagal film, ''

''. Davis's most celebrated role is as ESU football star Alvin Mack in the 1993 film, '' The Program''. During filming, he broke the metacarpal in his hand and refused to do a scene in which his character broke his leg, as it was too close to his own college experience. He claims that fans still come up to him and repeat his lines. In 1994 he appeared in the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

original movie, ''

Past Tense The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past. Examples of verbs in the past tense include the English verbs ''sang'', ''went'' and ''washed''. Most languages have a past tense, with some hav ...

'', and the following year he played James "Buster" Douglas in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

original movie, ''

Tyson Tyson is a male given name of old French origin meaning 'high-spirited', 'fire'. It is from this that a surname arose 'son of Tyson'. Surname *Alan Tyson (1926–2000), British musicologist *Barbara Tyson (born 1964), Canadian actress *Bill Tyso ...

''. Davis starred as

Bo Kimble Gregory Kevin "Bo" Kimble (born April 9, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Loyola Marymount Lions. As a senior in the 1989–90 season, Kim ...

in '' Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story''. He played

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

in the 1999 made-for-TV movie about ''

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...

''. In 2001 he played the part of Uno in ''

'', and in 2004 he appeared in ''

'' as Reggie. Davis played Duke DePalma, a former boxer-turned-crime fighter, in ''

Team Knight Rider ''Team Knight Rider'' (''TKR'') is an American action crime drama television series that was adapted from the ''Knight Rider'' franchise and ran in syndication between 1997 and 1998. ''TKR'' was created by writer/producers Rick Copp and David A ...

'', a short-lived spin-off series of the original ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series ''Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'' TV series. He played a

recurring character A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main foc ...

in ''

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

'', and has been in other TV shows such as ''

M.A.N.T.I.S. ''M.A.N.T.I.S.'' is an American superhero television series that aired for one season on the Fox Network between August 26, 1994, and March 3, 1995. The original two-hour TV movie pilot was produced by Sam Raimi and developed by Sam Hamm. The ...

'', ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'', ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of ''The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'', ''

What's Happening Now ''What's Happening Now!!'' is an American sitcom sequel to the original ABC 1976–79 sitcom ''What's Happening!!'' focusing on its main characters as adults. It aired in first-run broadcast syndication from September 7, 1985 until March 26, 1988 ...

'', ''

Head of the Class ''Head of the Class'' is an American sitcom television series that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network. The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program (IHP) at the fictional Millard Fillmor ...

'', and ''

Little Big League ''Little Big League'' is a 1994 American family sports film about a 12-year-old who suddenly becomes the owner and then manager of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It stars Luke Edwards, Timothy Busfield, and Dennis Farina. The film is directo ...

''. He played a boxer in the movie, ''

Diggstown ''Diggstown'' (known as ''Midnight Sting'' in the UK), is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Michael Ritchie and written by Steven McKay, based on the 1978 novel ''The Diggstown Ringers'' by Leonard Wise. It stars James Woods ...

'', and also had a small role in Carl Reiner's 1987 comedy film, '' Summer School.''

Personal life

Davis lives in California. His son,

Wyatt Davis Wyatt Davis (born February 17, 1999) is an American football guard for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the third round of the 2021 ...

, played college football at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and was selected in the 3rd round of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

References

External links

* *
Sports Reference profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Duane Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Cleveland African-American male actors Missouri Tigers football players American football wide receivers Players of American football from Ohio 21st-century African-American people