Daniel Joseph "Dan" Davies (born December 25, 1965) is an American actor, screenplay writer and producer. He has appeared in the romantic comedy Wienerfest (2009) and in 2010 he wrote, co-produced and starred as the main character, Ed Gein, in the film Ed Gein, The Musical (2010). He played the role of Henry Seed in West of Thunder (2015).
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Early life
Davies was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Waupaca High School in Waupaca, Wisconsin. While there he was a class president and a member of the National Honor Society and Badger Boys State. He was awarded the VFW Citizenship Award and was a finalist for a Navy ROTC scholarship. He graduated in the top 5% of his class and his composite ACT score was high enough to qualify for Mensa. He received a B.A. degree in political science and English from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1988. He is of Irish, Welsh and American Indian ancestry.
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Career
1994 to present
Davies' first professional experience, from 1994 to 1996, was co-hosting, along with James Hoffman and ex-NFL player Blaise Winter, UPN-TV-32's Who What When & Where, on which he hosted the "Our Home Town" segment. It was a look at the history and people of small Midwestern towns. In 1994 he won the American Dream Festival World Comedy Contest in Nassau, Bahamas. His winning stand-up routine was performed at the Crystal Ballroom in the Crystal Palace Casino.
In 1997, he wrote and hosted the instructional video, The Games We Used to Play, which teaches children how to be healthy by inspiring them to play the physically active games that were played before the advent of video games.
From 1997-1998, he co-hosted and co-produced, along with Ron Bullock, a cooking show called Sports' Cooking. Airing throughout the Midwest, it was co-hosted by Sara White and the late NFL player Reggie White. The show featured sports stars and sports fans cooking their favorite dishes in the kitchen. Some of the show's guests included U.S. Open winner and ESPN analyst Andy North, Olympic Gold Medalist Bonnie Blair, and former Wisconsin Governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson.
Davies was also a competitive natural bodybuilder, having competed in the mid- to late-1990s. Because of this he was inspired to write the 90% Solution, a health and fitness book, in 2005. Also throughout the 90s he was featured in national commercials for True Value Hardware and ITT Technical Institute. He has done print modeling for Shopko, Kohl's, Fleet Farm, Tombstone Pizza, and Kraft Foods.
Davies hosted a syndicated comedic radio show The Swami, on which he played Achmed Benaben (The Swami), from 1998-2001. The show was syndicated throughout the Midwest. From 2002 to 2004 he hosted two TV shows Just for the Health of it and Now We're Cooking shown on several Midwestern TV stations.
In 2005, Davies and Ron Bullock won the Platinum Remi at the 38th Annual Houston International Film Festival (aka WorldFest). In 2006, the two took a Silver Remi at WorldFest. That same year they also won Best Comedy at the 20th Annual Videomaker Magazine Video Contest and Best Comedy at the Casablanca Futurevision Video Festival.
In late 2007, he started a production company with Steve Russell. DaviesRussell is a full-service TV and film production house. One of its first productions was the Rex Piano-directed Wienerfest (2009). Davies portrays the drunk yet musclebound and egotistical Hunter Rolph while Russell was the D.P. The company also co-produced Mitakuye Oyasin (2009).
In 2008-2010 DaviesRussell co-produced, along with Blame Society Films, the internet short comedy Thor's Kitchen. It starred the Chad Vader guys: Matt Sloan, Aaron Yonda and Brad Knight. Davies portrayed a Sword and Sandal, slightly homoerotic, 1950s/60s, badly voice-dubbed Hercules. This comedy short has had over 1,000,000 views in the aggregate.
In 2010 Ed Gein, The Musical a micro-budget horror/musical/comedy which he wrote, co-produced and in which he played the title character, premiered theatrically and then nationally on Retro Television Network (RetroTV) and PBS' Director's Cut.
Ed Gein, the Musical opened the door for Davies to write the story for the film, West of Thunder (2015). He and Jody Marriott Bar-Lev wrote the screenplay for the film. Creative advisors on the film included Lakota elders and Michael Blake. In it Davies plays the starring role of Henry Seed. West of Thunder won the Political Film Society's Best Film (Peace) and Best Film (Human Rights), becoming the first film in their almost 30 year existence to win both categories. It was also awarded, along with Django Unchained, the Best Western at the Almeria Western Film Festival in Almeria, Spain. In honor of the 40th Annual American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, it was chosen a Top-10 All-Time film.
Davies's next film, Tempting Fate (2015) was one of the first "Hollywood meets Nollywood" films. In it he played the Russian/Kazakh gang leader Scorpion Dmitrov. He co-starred with Nollywood actor Ramsey Nouah. Tempting Fate was directed by Kevin Nwankwor. It was the first Nollywood film to garner a Dove Seal of Approval rating from the Dove Foundation and is a Top 25 Nollywood box office film of all-time.
Davies is a contributor to the Scene and Nature's Pathways magazines.
Davies co-starred with Sadie Kaye in Miss Adventure meets Motorhead, that as of May 29, 2013 was the highest-rated video of all-time on Will Ferrell/HBO's Funny or Die. It will also be seen on HBO's Funny or Die and Comedy Central (Europe).
He co-starred in the British comedy Flim, the Movie, which premiered in London in 2014. It was nominated for Best Film (Raindance Award) at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) December 2014. It was a selection at the Raindance Film Festival in London and its U.S. premiere was screened simultaneously at the Soho House Cinemas in Chicago, New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
Davies also co-starred with Ayo Makun, Funke Akindele, Nse Ikpe-Etim and Eric Roberts in the Nollywood/Hollywood comedy A Trip to Jamaica that was released in September, 2016 and distributed by FilmOne Distribution. This film also premiered in London in Dec 2016 and held the highest per-screen average in the UK during its box office run. It was awarded the African Entertainment Legend Award for Best Cinema Film of 2016 and it has been nominated in 6 categories for the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards 2017. It was the No. 1 Nollywood box office film of 2016, and, as of December 2016, became the No. 1 Nollywood box office film of all time. This and the box office success of Tempting Fate have made Dan the No 1 American box office actor in Nollywood.
In 2017 he stars in the revenge thriller Wronged and co-stars with D.B. Sweeney and Caroline Morahan in the psychological thriller/horror Mr. Thursday.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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