Don S. Davis

The Doctor Who Preferred the Stage

Don Sinclair Davis didn't fit the usual mold of Hollywood character actors. He held a doctorate in theater from Southern Illinois University and spent much of his youth teaching at the university before the entertainment industry claimed him full time.

Before stepping in front of the cameras, he served as a captain in the United States Army during the 1960s. That real military experience gave him a natural authority that no acting class could have taught him.

But art mattered more than books.

In 1982 he decided to leave teaching and try his luck in Vancouver. He started out as a body double and stunt performer for Dana Elcar on the series MacGyver, because their physical resemblance was almost total. That gave him a firsthand look at how film sets really work from a discreet but privileged position.

And destiny had a place saved for him on cult television.

Natural Authority in Front of the Camera

David Lynch cast him in 1990 to play Major Garland Briggs in Twin Peaks. It was a role in which Davis blended military discipline with an emotional depth that surprised audiences of the time.

Despite his success in psychological drama, his big break came in 1997. That's when he took on the role of General George Hammond in Stargate SG-1. For seven seasons he led the command with a mix of firmness and fatherly warmth that departed from the archetypes of traditional war movies.

The command was not just a pose.

Davis was a prolific painter and sculptor away from the set. He spent his free hours on set sketching and selling his works in galleries in British Columbia. His artistic talent was for many of his co-stars as impressive as his ability to memorize complex technical dialogue.

Because for him, acting was a job rather than a pursuit of fame. He appeared in series such as The X-Files, playing Dana Scully's father, and lent his voice to video games and animated productions without making any media fuss.

In 2003 he decided to cut back on his workload due to health problems. But he never fully stopped acting as long as his strength allowed.

He died on June 29, 2008 at his home in Gibsons from a heart attack. His last on-screen appearance was in the film Stargate: Continuum, released that same year. Filming of his scenes in the series V wrapped just a few weeks before his death.