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A Man of Many Talents…
My son came home from university one day and said, “Hey Mom, ever heard of Jackson Davies?” I looked at him like he had three heads, and said, “Of COURSE! The Beachcombers was one of my favourite shows as a kid. Why? How do you know who he is?”
“He’s one of my teachers.”
And that’s how this interview came to be. Ben was pretty excited about how excited Jackson Davies was….about everything! I was pretty excited to hear that this iconic Canadian personality was sharing his knowledge with young people. Ben thought he’d be a great person to share with you….and I, of course, agreed. (I do have a brilliant son, you see. And my daughter and stepdaughters are pretty spectacular too…just sayin’.)
So off I went with my little digital recorder to interview a celebrity.
Raised in Wetaskiwin Alberta and now living in Vancouver, Jackson Davies became a household name in Canada and in many countries around the world when he starred for 16 years as Constable John Constable in Canada’s longest running TV series The Beachcombers for which he won the TV Week Viewer’s Choice Award for best actor in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989.
Jackson is one of only two Canadians who were made honorary sergeants in the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police).
The book he co-authored with Marc Strange called Bruno and The Beach: The Beachcombers at 40 was a BC Best seller and a finalist for two BC Book Awards.
Jackson has also acted in over 160 stage shows in most of the major theatres in Canada, was featured in the TV pilot Tales of an Urban Indian, and the award winning short film Flush. Jackson has produced, written and performed in many award-winning productions, The Wild Guys, in which he starred and also co-wrote, won the Best Feature Film at The World of Comedy International Film Festival and Best Picture award at The California Independent Film Festival.
Jackson has appeared in well over 300 TV shows including Wise Guy, 21 Jump Street, and X Files and continuing roles in Sesame Street, Street Justice and MacGyver. He has also been featured in 30 made for television movies and feature films including I Still Dream of Jeannie, Christmas Pageant, Stakeout, Bird on a Wire, and The Exxon Valdez Story.
In addition, Jackson appeared in, wrote, produced, and directed over 200 television commercials and industrial films in Canada and the U.S. for which he has won numerous national and international awards. The music video we wrote for Gord Bamford’s Day Job won the 2010 CMT Best Video Award.
Jackson is the Vice President of the Union Of BC Performers, is also the Vice Chair of The Arts Council of B.C. and for the past 7 years he has been on the Faculty of Screen and Stage at Capilano University in North Vancouver.
Jackson still manages to find time to play right wing for the Vancouver Canuck Alumni.
Topics covered in this interview include:
- How Jacskon Davies got his start
- The challenges of the film/television/theatre business in Canada
- The importance of the Arts to a community
- Thinking outside of the box
- Following your passion
- Having courage
- The change in industry, the need to be creative
- His work with students…giving them some worth
- The privilege of being an actor
- Defending the Arts
- On being a decent human being
- Attention-span
- Connecting with each other
- Jackson’s advice: “don’t be afraid to engage….and listen.”
“We can always do beige”~Jackson Davies
Well CommunicationDiva Listener/Reader…I KNOW you can do much better than “beige”. Leave me a message or a voicemail on Speakpipe and let me know what you thought of this episode. Your feedback is always important to me.
Until next time. keep connecting!
Jenn
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