Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 – April 11, 1916) was an American journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish–American War, the Second Boer War, and World War I. His mother Rebecca Harding Davis was a prominent writer. His father, Lemuel Clarke Davis, was himself a journalist and edited the Philadelphia Public Ledger. While at Lehigh, Davis published his first book, The Adventures of My Freshman (1884), a collection of short stories. Some of the stories had originally appeared in the student magazine the Lehigh Burr. In 1885, Davis transferred to Johns Hopkins University.

After college, his father helped him gain his first position as a journalist at the Philadelphia Record, but he was soon dismissed. After another brief position at the Philadelphia Press, Davis accepted a better-paying position at the New York Evening Sun where he gained attention for his flamboyant style and his writing on controversial subjects such as abortion, suicide and execution. written by Augustus Thomas. His novel was filmed twice, in 1914 and in 1919 by Allan Dwan. The 1914 version starring Dustin Farnum was shot in the Cuban locations that Davis used in his novel, and Davis was present during the filming.

During the Spanish–American War, Davis was on a United States Navy warship when he witnessed the shelling of Matanzas, Cuba, a part of the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. His story made headlines, but as a result, the Navy prohibited reporters from being aboard any American naval vessel for the rest of the war.

left|thumb|150px|Davis with [[Theodore Roosevelt in Tampa, Florida, 1898]]

Davis was a good friend of Theodore Roosevelt, and he helped create the legend surrounding the Rough Riders, of which he was made an honorary member. Some have even gone so far to accuse Davis of involvement in William Randolph Hearst's alleged plot to have started the war between Spain and the United States in order to boost newspaper sales; however, Davis refused to work for Hearst after a dispute over fictionalizing one of his articles.

thumb|right|170px|Bessie and Hope Davis

Despite his alleged association with yellow journalism, his writings of life and travel in Central America, Venezuela, the Caribbean, Rhodesia and South Africa during the Second Boer War were widely published. He was one of a number of war correspondents who covered the Russo-Japanese War from the perspective of the Japanese forces.

Davis later reported on the Salonika front of the First World War, where he was arrested by the Germans as a spy, but released.

Personal life

Davis was married twice, first to Cecil Clark, an artist, in 1899, and, following their 1912 divorce, to Bessie McCoy, an actress and vaudeville performer, who is remembered for her signature "Yama Yama Man" routine. Davis and Bessie had a daughter, Hope. He was interred at Leverington Cemetery in Philadelphia. His friend and fellow author John Fox, Jr. was surprised by his sudden death, writing, "He was so intensely alive that I cannot think of him as dead—and I do not. He is just away on another of those trips and it really seems queer that I shall not hear him tell about it." His wife Bessie would also die young, at age 42 in 1931 from intestinal problems.

Legacy

A plaque denoting his boyhood home can be seen at 21st and Chancellor Streets in Philadelphia.

Davis's Gallegher and Other Stories became the series Gallegher, starring Roger Mobley, Edmond O'Brien, and Harvey Korman on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC.

Davis is mentioned twice in Alfred Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent" as being the ideal American journalist.

Partial list of works

thumb|About Paris by Richard Harding Davis, ca. 1890–1920; from the American Art Posters 1890-1920 collection of the Boston Public Library

thumb|right|180px|Three [[Gringos in Central America and Venezuela: poster by Edward Penfield]]

thumb|right|180px|First edition cover of Vera the Medium, 1908

  • Stories for Boys (1891)
  • Cinderella and Other Stories (1891)
  • Gallegher, and Other Stories (1891)
  • The West from a Car Window (1892)
  • Van Bibber and Others (1892)
  • The Rulers of the Mediterranean (1893)
  • The Exiles, and Other Stories (1894)
  • Our English Cousins (1894)
  • About Paris (1895)
  • The Princess Aline (1895)
  • Three Gringos in Central America and Venezuela (1896)
  • Soldiers of Fortune (1897)
  • Cuba in War Time (1897)
  • Dr. Jameson's Raiders vs. the Johannesburg Reformers (1897)
  • A Year From a Reporter's Note-Book (1898)
  • The King's Jackal (1898)
  • The Cuban & Porto Rican Campaigns (1899)
  • The Lion and the Unicorn (1899)
  • With Both Armies (1900), on the Second Boer War
  • In the Fog (1901)
  • Ranson's Folly (1902)
  • Captain Macklin: His Memoirs (1902)
  • The Bar Sinister (1903)
  • The Dictator (1904)
  • Real Soldiers of Fortune (1906) – an early biography of Winston Churchill (1874–1965), Major Frederick Russell Burnham, D.S.O., (1861–1947), Chief of Scouts, General Henry Douglas McIver (1841–1907), James Harden-Hickey (1854–1898), Captain Philo McGiffen (1860–1897), William Walker (1824–1860)
  • The Congo and coasts of Africa (1907)
  • The Scarlet Car (1906)
  • Vera, the Medium (1908)
  • The White Mice (1909)
  • Once Upon A Time (1910)
  • Notes of a War Correspondent (1910)
  • The Nature Faker (1910)
  • The Red Cross Girl (1912)
  • The Lost Road and Other Stories (1913)
  • Peace Manoeuvres; a Play in One Act (1914)
  • The Boy Scout (1914)
  • With the Allies (1914)
  • With the French in France and Salonika (1916)
  • The Man Who Could Not Lose (1916)
  • The Deserter (1917)

Filmography

  • ', directed by Edwin S. Porter (1910, short film, based on the novel Ranson's Folly)<!--1 March 1910-->
  • ', directed by Ashley Miller (1910, short film, based on the short story Her First Appearance)<!--15 April 1910-->
  • ', directed by Ashley Miller (1910, short film, based on the novel Gallegher)<!--26 April 1910-->
  • The Winning of Miss Langdon, directed by Edwin S. Porter (1910, short film, based on the short story A Peace Manoeuvres)<!--6 December 1910-->
  • The Romance of Hefty Burke (1910, short film, based on the short story The Romance in the Life of Hefty Burke)<!--30 December 1910-->
  • ' (1911, short film, based on the short story Miss Civilization)<!--24 January 1911-->
  • ' (1911, short film, based on the short story My Disreputable Friend Mr. Raegen)<!--24 March 1911-->
  • How the Hungry Man Was Fed (1911, short film, based on the short story The Hungry Man Was Fed)<!--17 May 1911-->
  • ', directed by Ashley Miller (1911, short film, based on the short story Van Bibber's Burglar)<!--16 June 1911-->
  • ' (1911, short film, based on the short story A Derelict)<!--7 July 1911-->
  • ', directed by Ashley Miller (1911, short film, based on the novel In the Fog)<!--22 December 1911-->
  • ' (1912, short film, based on the novel Eleanor Cuyler)
  • ', directed by William F. Haddock (1914, based on the novel Soldiers of Fortune)<!--1 January 1914-->
  • The Man Who Could Not Lose, directed by Carlyle Blackwell (1914, based on the novel The Man Who Could Not Lose)<!--16 November 1914-->
  • The Last Chapter, directed by William Desmond Taylor (1914, based on the short story An Unfinished Story)<!--December 1914-->
  • The Lost House, directed by Christy Cabanne (1915, short film, based on the short story The Lost House)<!--March 25, 1915-->
  • Captain Macklin, directed by John B. O'Brien (1915, based on the novel Captain Macklin: His Memoirs)<!--April 22, 1915-->
  • The Dictator, directed by Oscar Eagle (1915, based on the play The Dictator)<!--June 21, 1915-->
  • ', directed by (1915, based on the play The Galloper)<!--10 September 1915-->
  • Ranson's Folly, directed by Richard Ridgely (1915, based on the novel Ranson's Folly)<!--September 17, 1915-->
  • ', directed by Sidney Drew (1915, based on the novel Playing Dead)<!--20 September 1915-->
  • ', directed by Frank Beal (1916, short film, based on the novel The Buried Treasure of Cobre)<!--3 January 1916-->
  • Somewhere in France, directed by Charles Giblyn (1916, based on the novel Somewhere in France)<!--October 29, 1916-->
  • Vera, the Medium, directed by Broncho Billy Anderson (1917, based on the novel Vera, the Medium)<!--January 4, 1917-->
  • The Boy Who Cried Wolf, directed by Edward H. Griffith (1917, based on the short story The Boy Who Cried Wolf)<!--17 May 1917-->
  • Billy and the Big Stick, directed by Edward H. Griffith (1917, based on the short story Billy and the Big Stick)<!--28 July 1917-->
  • Gallegher, directed by Ben Turbett (1917, short film, based on the novel Gallegher)<!--20 August 1917-->
  • The Scarlet Car, directed by Joseph De Grasse (1917, based on the novel The Scarlet Car)<!--December 24, 1917-->
  • The Trap, directed by Frank Reicher (1919, based on the play The Trap)<!--August 11, 1919-->
  • Soldiers of Fortune, directed by Allan Dwan (1919, based on the novel Soldiers of Fortune)<!--November 22, 1919-->
  • The Men of Zanzibar, directed by Rowland V. Lee (1922, based on the short story The Men of Zanzibar)<!--21 May 1922-->
  • Restless Souls, directed by Robert Ensminger (1922, based on the novel Playing Dead)<!--28 May 1922-->
  • The Dictator, directed by James Cruze (1922, based on the play The Dictator)<!--June 22, 1922-->
  • The Scarlet Car, directed by Stuart Paton (1923, based on the novel The Scarlet Car)<!--15 January 1923-->
  • The Exiles, directed by Edmund Mortimer (1923, based on the novel The Exiles)<!--14 October 1923-->
  • Stephen Steps Out, directed by Joseph Henabery (1923, based on the novel The Grand Cross of the Crescent)<!--November 18, 1923-->
  • Cupid's Fireman, directed by William A. Wellman (1923, based on the short story Andy M'Gee's Chorus Girl)<!--December 16, 1923-->
  • 24 short films starring Earle Foxe (1924–1927, based on the "Van Bibber" short stories)
  • Honor Among Men, directed by Denison Clift (1924, based on the novel The King's Jackal)
  • White Mice, directed by Edward H. Griffith (1926, based on the novel The White Mice)<!--31 January 1926-->
  • Ranson's Folly, directed by Sidney Olcott (1926, based on the novel Ranson's Folly)<!--May 30, 1926-->
  • Almost Human, directed by Frank Urson (1927, based on the novel The Bar Sinister)
  • Let 'Er Go Gallegher, directed by Elmer Clifton (1928, based on the novel Gallegher)<!--15 January 1928-->
  • Driftwood, directed by Christy Cabanne (1928, based on the short story Driftwood)<!--October 15, 1928-->
  • Fugitives, directed by William Beaudine (1929, based on the novel The Exiles)
  • It's a Dog's Life, directed by (1955, based on the novel The Bar Sinister)
  • ' (1965–1967, Disney TV series, 10 episodes, based on the novel Gallegher)

References

Further reading

  • Lubow, Arthur. The Reporter Who Would Be King: A Biography of Richard Harding Davis (Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992). ;
  • Osborn, Scott Compton. (1953) Richard Harding Davis: The Development of a Journalist, Dissertation thesis, University of Kentucky. OCLC 44083545. [reprinted by Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1978. ; <!-- https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/954737 -->
  • Downey, Fairfax Davis. Richard Harding Davis: His Day. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1933.
  • Miner, Lewis S. Front Lines and Headlines: The Story of Richard Harding Davis. New York: J. Messner, 1959.
  • Quinby, Henry Cole. Richard Harding Davis: A Bibliography. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1924.

;Works

  • Works by Richard Harding Davis at Online Books Page
  • Collected Journalism of Richard Harding Davis at The Archive of American Journalism
  • "Rheims during the Bombardment" from Scribner's Magazine, January 1915 at World War One Gallery

;Papers

  • Finding Aid to Richard Harding Davis Miscellaneous Correspondence and Other Documents , 1887–1916, Special Collections, Linderman Library, Lehigh University
  • Finding Aid for the Papers of Richard Harding Davis, 1863-1916, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

;Encyclopedia

  • Richard Harding Davis, 1863-1916 - britannica
  • Richard Harding Davis, 1863-1916 - encyclopedia.com
  • Richard Harding Davis, 1863-1916 - The Free Dictionary
  • Richard Harding Davis, 1863-1916 - encyclopedia - The Free Dictionary
  • Richard Harding Davis, 1863-1916 - The Literature Network. Jalic, Inc.