Clifton Davis
Encyclopedia
Clifton Duncan Davis is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and minister. He has appeared on the television shows as A World Apart
A World Apart (TV series)
A World Apart is an American daytime drama which ran from March 30, 1970 to June 25, 1971 on the ABC television network.-Overview:The initial stories were written by Katherine Phillips, adopted daughter of soap legend Irna Phillips...

, That's My Mama
That's My Mama
That's My Mama is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 1974 until December 1975. There are 39 episodes of this series.-Synopsis:...

and Amen
Amen (TV series)
Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen starred Hemsley as the deacon of a church and was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s...

. Davis also wrote several hits for The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...

, including "Never Can Say Goodbye
Never Can Say Goodbye
"Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by The Jackson 5. Released as a single in 1971, it was one of the group's most successful songs...

" and "Lookin' Through the Windows
Lookin' Through the Windows
Lookin' Through the Windows was the fifth studio album released by The Jackson 5 on the Motown label in May 1972. The album would go on to sell 3.5 million copies worldwide.-Production:...

"

Career

Davis was born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, the son of Thelma vanPutten Langhorn, a nurse, and Toussaint L'Ouverture Davis, a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 minister. He was raised in Mastic, New York
Mastic, New York
Mastic is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 15,436 at the 2000 census. Mastic is a community located in the southeast part of the Town of Brookhaven....

.

Before finding fame in acting, Davis worked as a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, most famously penning The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...

's #2 hit "Never Can Say Goodbye
Never Can Say Goodbye
"Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by The Jackson 5. Released as a single in 1971, it was one of the group's most successful songs...

".

Davis starred as barber Clifton Curtis in the mid-1970s television show That's My Mama
That's My Mama
That's My Mama is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 1974 until December 1975. There are 39 episodes of this series.-Synopsis:...

with Theresa Merritt, Theodore Wilson and Ted Lange (who subsequently became a mainstay of The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...

).
Davis' romantic interest with songstress and Broadway performer Melba Moore led to his co-starring role on her musical variety television show.

Davis made a guest appearance on the third episode of the first season of The Bobby Vinton Show
The Bobby Vinton Show
The Bobby Vinton Show was a Canadian musical variety television series produced for the CTV Television Network between 1975 and 1978, with a total of 52 episodes broadcast. Starring Bobby Vinton, a best selling pop singer since the early 1960s, the series mixed comedy skits with musical interludes....

in September 1975, singing "I've Got The Music In Me" and "Never Can Say Goodbye". He successfully sang the Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

 lyrics with Vinton to the show's "My Melody of Love
My Melody of Love
"My Melody of Love" is the title of a popular song from 1974 by the American singer Bobby Vinton. Vinton adapted his song from a German song composed by Henry Mayer, and it appears on Vinton's album Melodies of Love....

" theme song.

A triple heart bypass survivor, he participated in the "superstars" celebrity TV sports competitions of the seventies. He also appeared in the film Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...

in 1977.

Davis released one acclaimed (and now hard to find) studio recording in 1991 on Benson Records titled Say Amen. He also appeared as a panelist in the second version of The Match Game.

He played the mayor of Miami in the 1999 film Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...

.

Minister

In addition to being an actor and a singer, he is also an ordained Baptist minister. Davis holds a BA in Theology from Oakwood University and a Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University
Andrews University
Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College in Battle Creek, Michigan, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists, and is the flagship university of the Seventh-day...

. For the last 25 years he has been an active part of Youthville, USA
Youthville, USA
Youthville, USA is a non-profit children's services company based in Louisburg, North Carolina. They provide foster care, vocational and cultural programs for children. The organization was founded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1981...

 a children's services organization. He currently serves as National Spokesperson and Advisory Board Chairman. He is the emcee and host of The Most Soulful Sound, an annual gospel choir competition in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

. He also hosts an annual celebrity golf tournament in Elizabeth City, NC at Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City State University is a public, historically black college located in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in the United States...

, where he served as Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement. Since the end of 2005 Davis has held the position of Executive Director for Welcome America, a non-profit organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that produces the largest Fourth of July celebration each year in the nation.

Davis is a frequent guest host on Trinity Broadcasting Network
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...

. Davis also hosted the Gospel Superfest TV show from 2000 to 2008, which is syndicated by United Television.

Davis is the author of an autobiographical essay entitled "A Mason Dixon Memory" in which he recounts his experiences as an eighth grader dealing with prejudice on a trip to a southern state.
Davis also portrayed a minister on the prime time series Amen.
Currently, Mr. Davis lives with his wife Monica in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

.

External links

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