Charles Blevins Davis (1903-July 16, 1971) was an American playwright and theatrical producer.

Early life

Charles Blevins Davis, the only son of Charles A. Davis and his wife, grew up in

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

. Davis grew up next to the

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

family and was a lifelong friend and

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

visitor of Harry, Bess and

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

. He shortened his name to C. Blevins Davis.

Education

Davis attended old Kansas City Junior College and, for a short time in the class of 1925 at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. He graduated from the

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

in 1925. After teaching in Independence, Davis studied at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Career

Davis returned to Independence and taught at the

William Chrisman High School William Chrisman High School is a high school located in Independence, Missouri, United States, as part of the Independence School District. History The school was founded in 1888 and was known as Independence High School. The first building ...

. He later worked at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in New York as the educational programs supervisor. By 1949, Davis was president of the Ballet Theater of New York. He was also a member of the American National Theater Association's board of directors. Davis produced ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' at the

Elsinore Castle Kronborg is a castle and historical stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalised as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. It was inscribed ...

in Denmark. It was the first American production of the play in Denmark. He produced the 1952 touring revival of ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'', which starred

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

William Warfield William Caesar Warfield (January 22, 1920 – August 25, 2002) was an American concert bass-baritone, known for his appearances in stage productions, Hollywood films, and television programs. A prominent African American artist during the Civil ...

, and

Leontyne Price Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...

. The State Department sponsored the production in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Davis became owner of a weekly

Cripple Creek, Colorado Cripple Creek is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat of Teller County, Colorado, Teller County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 1,155 at the 2020 United States census. Cri ...

, newspaper in 1951. The Cripple Creek District Museum in Colorado was founded by Blevins Davis and Margaret Giddings in 1953. Due to financial obligations of more than $400,00, Davis sold his Glendale Farm in 1959.

Personal life

In 1946, Davis married Marguerite Sawyer Hill, the widow of James N. Hill. Margaret was an art patron, socialite, and heiress to a railroad fortune. She owned Big Tree Farm in

Glen Head, New York Glen Head is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. Margaret died at St. Luke's Hospital in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, on March 18, 1948, of a heart attack. Davis received her nine-million-dollar fortune upon her death. He rebuilt and renovated his Glendale Farm in Independence. In 1949, Davis purchased the Claremont Estate in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The mansion, which he renamed Trianon, was sold to the Sisters of St. Francis Seraph in 1952.

Woodmen Sanatorium The town of Colorado Springs, Colorado, played an important role in the history of tuberculosis in the era before antituberculosis drugs and vaccines. Tuberculosis management before this era was difficult and often of limited effect. In the 19th ...

, also in Colorado Springs, was purchased by Davis in July 1950. His wife, Marguerite Davis, a railroad heiress died in 1948 and wished to have her fortune used for charitable purposes. The Modern Woodmen Sanatorium property and Trianon were sold to the Poor Sisters of St. Francis (

Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration The Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration is a papal religious congregation, congregation of the Roman Catholic Church, founded on July 20, 1863, by Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel in Olpe, Germany (sometimes known from the place of their found ...

) for $1 in 1952. The combined fortune that they received was worth $2,325,000 (). In the 1950s, Davis moved to

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru. While in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on a business trip, Davis died of a heart attack on July 16, 1971. He had no surviving children. His Princeton obituary stated that he lived a "colorful career" and spent $10 million during his "high-living days".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Blevins 1903 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American theatre managers and producers 20th-century American businesspeople People from Independence, Missouri People from Cripple Creek, Colorado