} Sir John Henry Harris Davis (10 November 1906 – 27 May 1993) was an English businessman and accountant. He was the managing director, later chairman, of

The Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

Early life

John Davis was born in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

in 1906 to Sidney Myring Davis and Emily Harris.''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975'' He was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...

Career

Davis became a member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, and was Secretary to a number of companies before joining

Odeon Theatres Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name ...

in 1938 as an accountant, becoming managing director of the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

in 1948. He was largely responsible for Rank consolidating film production at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

. Online at: He steered the company away from a financial crisis in 1949. and into a stronger financial position by diversifying the groups business. He ceased being managing director of the conglomerate in 1962 and became chairman, succeeding J. Arthur Rank in the position after Rank's retirement. Davis was knighted in 1971 and retired from the chairmanship in 1977.

Personal life

Davis married five times. He married Joan Buckingham in 1926, with whom he had a son; then, in 1947, Marion Gavid, who gave him two daughters, Susan and Janet; in 1954, he married the actress

Dinah Sheridan Dinah Sheridan (born Dinah Nadyejda Ginsburg; 17 September 1920 – 25 November 2012) was an English actress with a career spanning seven decades. She was best known for the films '' Genevieve'' (1953) and '' The Railway Children'' (1970); the l ...

(marriage dissolved 1965); and in 1976, Mrs Felicity Rutland. He died in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London, on 27 May 1993.''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, John 1906 births 1993 deaths Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor People educated at the City of London School People from the City of London 20th-century English businesspeople