GateWorld’s one and only interview with Don S. Davis joins the Stargate Oral History Project. Come with us as we remember the “George Hammond” actor with his own words about his character, life and legacy.

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TRANSCRIPT
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Introductory Text:
In the late 1960ss, following his discharge from the armed forces, Don moved to Carbondale, Illinois to obtain a masters degree in theater. This was a time of tumult in the country, and Vietnam War protests were breaking out at many schools, including SIU. One of Don’s friends…

Don Davis:
…apparently were participating in a demonstration. I was listening to The Beatles and writing a term paper, and I had the air conditioning running because it was a warm night. So, I wasn’t aware of anything going on. I didn’t have the TV on. I didn’t watch the news. I was just working, and in they burst in the door and immediately slam the door shut, and I said, “What the hell’s going on?” “They’ve gassed us. They’ve gassed us.” And I said, “Strip nude and throw your clothes outside and go in and run water over yourselves.” And so, they didn’t even hesitate. It was silly. But it was fun. I guess I should sit up straight.

David Read:
Get yourself comfortable.

Don Davis:
Well, I was comfortable.

David Read:
Hi everybody. Glad you’re here. My name is David Read with Dial the Gate: The Stargate Oral History Project. Our mandate as this channel is to, much like GateWorld.net, archive Stargate stories for generations who aren’t here yet, who are gonna discover this franchise and fall in love with it. Darren is back with me for this because we were there together when we interviewed Don for GateWorld, which was… I forgot. It was GateWorld’s first and only interview with Don.

Darren Sumner:
With Don, that’s right.

David Read:
You had never met him before. So, this was a real treat for you, and it was great to be there to make this happen. I have to thank… I think it was either Ryan or Tyman Stewart at The Characters, who booked three folks that afternoon. We started off with Neil Dannis, then Garry Chalk, and then Don Davis. And I’ve got a copy of it here that I’m gonna share with everyone in a minute. It’s slightly different than the one that’s on GateWorld, but not that much. And you have graciously allowed us to keep an archive here as well. Because particularly in the case of Don, he is outside of our grasp, and we can no longer collect these stories. His memories are not just locked in time. All that remain[s] of him is in us and the digital footprint that he left online with interviews and everything else. And I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else. So, I really appreciate you being here, man. How are you doing?

Darren Sumner:
It’s my great pleasure. Thank you for letting me join you for this. Folks will know that Don passed in 2008 and this interview that we did with him at The Characters [Talent] Agency in Vancouver was in 2006. So, SG-1 was filming Season 10, and we get a little bit of Hammond in Season 10. You’ll see in the interview that Don mentions he just got a script. So, SG-1 was in its final months of shooting. Don did the voiceover for the puppet scene in 200 in Season 10.

David Read:
And he just got that script. That day it arrived at his house. We had the opportunity to go and visit Vancouver and visit the sets and watch them shooting. But of course, by the time GateWorld started visiting the sets in Season Eight, Don had moved on as a season regular for reasons that he’ll go into in the interview. But Don was also really active on the convention scene. He did Gatecon. He did other opportunities like ours, where you were able to get hold of him through his talent agency, his management. And he walked into the building and was every bit Don Davis. Every bit that you think that he would be. He was chill, put us immediately at ease, just sort of settled his frame down into that couch and, “What do you guys wanna talk about?” It was wonderful. It was a wonderful experience and so, David, when you started Dial the Gate in 2020, it has over the course of these years now evolved into this larger project, which I think was always your ambition, but it’s really… The fruit is on the vine now, which is… Dial the Gate is an oral history project of Stargate, of the people who made it, and the people who love it. And obviously Don as a main cast member for seven years is a huge piece of that history. So, you and I got to talking… In fact, we talk quite regularly who would be a great guest to get on, who can we get a hold of, who have you not had yet, who’s got a story to tell. And there’s a subset of folks who will never be on Dial the Gate because they’re not with us anymore.

David Read:
And that list gets added to every year.

Darren Sumner:
Every year it gets bigger. And of course, before you did Dial the Gate, before you were working with the studio, you worked with on GateWorld for many, many years.

David Read:
That’s right.

Darren Sumner:
Back when you were a pup. A cub reporter. And we got to do these interviews. You did how many interviews for GateWorld?

David Read:
Over 100. Amanda was 100.

Darren Sumner:
Well over 100.

David Read:
It was in the order of 130, 140. I may have cracked 150.

Darren Sumner:
So, we had this interview with Don sitting in the interview archive. It’s been online since 2006 when it was originally published. The video you will see is, unless David can work some magic here before this goes life, is 2006 video. That’s why it looks the way that it does. But we had this interview with Don, and I was just thinking, “Look at Dial the Gate. Look at what this has become. Look at the archive that has been established here for Stargate history. This piece needs to be a part of it.”

David Read:
We as reporters have been really lucky.

Darren Sumner:
Yeah, lucky with the folks that we’ve gotten who have given us their time. So, the fact that not just that this was originally a GateWorld piece, but the fact that I was in the room with Don, listening to you conduct that interview. I don’t get to participate in this interview at all but when Don’s eyeline is moving back and forth, I’m the other guy he’s looking at. That’s seared in my memory. Sitting in that conference room with Don and with Neil and with Garry. It was a fantastic experience. It was the only time that I got to meet Don in person because I wasn’t going to Gatecons back in a day.

David Read:
That’s right. You were still very much in your shell.

Darren Sumner:
I was in my shell and I was…

David Read:
…doing what you were very good at…

Darren Sumner:
…living a ways away.

David Read:
… But “I’m good here.” Even having a video conference call with you, even after six months after we met, I was, like, “Let’s get video cameras and talk and communicate visually, so we can see into each other’s eyes and figure stuff out together.” He’s, like, “No.”

Darren Sumner:
Were there video cameras back then?

David Read:
Yep. They wouldn’t work very well but they would have worked.

Darren Sumner:
Yeah.

David Read:
You just categorically [were], like, “Nope. Nope.” AOLIM for years. And then, obviously we are where we are now. You took your time, but you got there but I’m so thrilled that he was still around at the point when you got to do this. The one time is a good time. And I only wish that we have given him the full hour, hour-and-a-half, because I think he would have given it to us. We decided to cram as much content as we could into that timeframe. And the other thing, Darren, that I have to admit to upon looking back, and one of the things I’ll talk about when we recap after everyone gets a chance to see the footage, my perspective shift on a couple of things in my life. One of them is, “Why am I the only one interviewing him? Why didn’t I do this with my friend and my business associate and colleague and whatever you wanna hang on it?” And it’s, like, “You jerk. This is his only time seeing him.” We didn’t know that then.

Darren Sumner:
It’s alright. In the early days of GateWorld and GateWorld interviewing we were delegating.

David Read:
Right. “You get one and I get one.”

Darren Sumner:
“I’m gonna do the next one. You’re gonna do that one.” And you were irritated with me for many years that I had gotten Carmen Argenziano.

David Read:
That’s it.

Darren Sumner:
And you were super jealous but then you got to share a stage with Carmen and do your own conversation with him. Carmen played Jacob Carter. But it was wonderful to be there, and you and I figured it out pretty soon as we went on. We started doing more interviews in tandem, I think, after this. But this is about Don and Don’s charm, and folks are gonna get a chance to see…

David Read:
The man.

Darren Sumner:
The man that we experienced. The man that we knew. He’s absolutely genuine. Everything you think that the guy who plays General Hammond would be in real life. He’s a real and a genuine human being, just all the way down to the studs.

David Read:
There are characters like David Hewlett’s Rodney McKay, where other than their technical side personality wise, they are night and day. That is not true for Don. It wasn’t true for Rick either, but it was certainly not true for Don. They are playing such a close version of themselves. And in fact, I forgot all about Don’s inspiration for largely what the role was until I rewatched this. It’s, like, “Oh yeah.” So, there was even more of that that people are gonna get to see. Should we let them watch it?

Darren Sumner:
Yeah, let’s see it.

David Read:
Let’s roll tape.

David Read:
Don S. Davis, thank you very much for being with us this afternoon.

Don Davis:
Thanks for inviting me!

David Read:
You’re still looking good. How’s your health been?

Don Davis:
Pretty good lately. Pretty good, yes. I’ve had some more medical things done. You know, when you get old the machinery starts to fall apart.

David Read:
Well hopefully later rather than sooner for you. I think you’re gonna be fine for a while. You’ve got a few miles left to go.

Don Davis:
I don’t know. I’m held together by scar tissue and bailing wire.

David Read:
It’s been two seasons since General Hammond was a regular on SG-1, and you told us that one of the reasons you were looking forward to retirement was to get all these wonderful artistic ideas that you had in your head out on canvass or out on wood. Have you been able to do the amount of artistic expression that you had hoped you would have time for, or have other things continued to be a distraction?

Don Davis:
I’ve continued to work in the film and television industry. That has kept the art from happening. But as it so happens, I’m in the middle of that transition right now. This morning, before coming here, I was in my wonderful little shack, which is an hour out of town. It’s on the banks of an irrigation ditch next to a cranberry bog in a fenced compound. And it literally is a shack, without any plumbing, but it’s fully insulated and has tons of electricity, and no one can get to me. And so that’s where I was this morning. The building’s been vacant for four years. It’s owned by a friend of mine. So, the rent is very reasonable. But I’m tearing out debris that probably CSI couldn’t identify.

David Read:
What do you plan to do with this place?

Don Davis:
I plan to use it as a painting and a carving studio. It’s 16 by 24 feet.

David Read:
Enough room to move around in there, then.

Don Davis:
Yeah.

David Read:
Great, great. What types of mediums do you usually like to focus on? The painting and the carving — I guess that is the answer to the question, isn’t it?

Don Davis:
Yeah, that’s it. Primarily, I think of myself, and I have for years, as a wood carver. But I hardly ever carve anymore. I paint in every medium and in every style. We’re trying to put together a Web site called DonSDavisArt.com, and when we get it together there’ll be examples of both paintings and carvings and the people that are putting it together are trying to talk me into selling prints of my paintings and drawings. I haven’t yet…

David Read:
Given in?

Don Davis:
No. I tried to have some prints made of stuff a few years ago, and market them, and the colors weren’t right. The sizes couldn’t be reproduced. So, it was a very negative experience, and I quit doing it. Now I’ve got a group of very reputable people who are claiming that they can market the stuff and that they can produce quality prints. And if they can, we’ll do it, but if not, this’ll just be so people can see what the ‘ole fart was talking about.

David Read:
Don, are you a fan of science fiction?

Don Davis:
I am now. I wasn’t always. I never really liked science fiction in film and television because when I was your age it was all cardboard and very crude, and it wasn’t realistic. And I could read someone like Asimov and envision all of these wonderful things. Or Wells, or whoever. And then I would see it on TV or in a film and, “No.” In fact, my son, when he was about four years old, I guess, or five years old, Star Wars came out. And he had to see Star Wars. He really had to make me lots of promises in order for me to get me to take him to it. And I came out of that movie a Star Wars nut.

David Read:
Really?

Don Davis:
Oh, yeah! Then with the Star Trek… Not the original Star Trek. Again, it was silly. The crudity of the thing. Even though the actors, a lot of them now, are friends of mine. But I don’t like crudity. I’m a painter and a sculptor. I spent twenty years teaching people how to be artists and craftsmen. And then to see something, especially on film, that looks like a retarded two-year old created it in their back yard, is not entertaining to me.

David Read:
You said the later Star Treks you were more interested in, like Next Generation, I would suppose?

Don Davis:
Oh yeah. And most of them. And one of my favorite shows on television, for years, was a thing that’s a Canadian production called Lexx. It’s just magnificent. Within the science fiction realm, Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Hell, I’ve got DVDs of all of them! I’m just saying I came to it late. One of my favorite authors… Again, he happens to be Canadian. Happens to live in this area. His name’s Spider Robinson. If you wanna read great fun, read The Callahan Chronicles. And his wife is also a wonderful writer. I love detective stories. And she has written a sci-fi detective story called Lady Slings the Booze. And if you can read that — I read that on an airplane and the hostess actually became concerned because I was alternately laughing and crying and moving around in my seat. Just the imagination of these people. But yeah, I like sci fi. I was reading Ray Bradbury at the moment that John F. Kennedy was shot. People say you always remember what you were doing, and I happened to be reading Ray Bradbury at the time.

David Read:
OK. Wow. So, you do have a special attachment to sci fi.

Don Davis:
Yeah. See, I grew up with some magnificent science fiction. All the H.G. Wells stories, and Ray Bradbury, and again, Issac Asimov. Just great writers.

David Read:
The Da Vincis of sci-fi foretold so much stuff of what was to come. As Greenburg and Wright, and Glassner may very well be.

Don Davis:
There you go.

David Read:
Take us back to the very beginning, Don. How did you get General Hammond?

Don Davis:
Years ago, I was brought to Canada to teach at the University of British Columbia. And I had a PhD, and I taught for about ten years. And I was published. So, my summers were pretty-much mine. But they insisted that if I did work in the summers it had to be theater related. One of the other faculty wanted to act in film and television. He taught acting. And he talked me into meeting his agent. And I wound up doing some extra work, and then, through a fluke, wound up on a film letting some people shoot a mortar full of spaghetti and cottage cheese and food coloring in my face as if the man in front of me has had his brains shot out. And the A.D. on that show, the second A.D. on that show, a couple of years later, wound up being the second A.D. on MacGyver. And when they shot MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson’s boss was played by an actor named Dana Elcar. And they couldn’t find a stunt double for Dana who looked anything like him. They were having to put padded suits on these guys, and bald caps, and it just wasn’t working. And in a production meeting this guy said, “Well, hell, there’s an actor in town that could be his brother. He looks just like him.” And so, I wound up becoming his photo double, and then his stunt double. And so, Michael Greenburg and Rick got to know me. When Stargate came along, they called me in to read for Hammond. So that’s how I really got that. Not through talent or beating anybody out. They are two very loyal people, and they knew that they could trust me.

David Read:
I’ll be darned. Awesome. What were your honest thoughts about this character when you first read his breakdown? Did you find him to be unflappable, someone with a lot of potential, or someone who just served a cookie-cutter purpose?

Don Davis:
I thought he was a two-dimensional figure. And I had served in the army in Korea during the Vietnam War. I was an officer; I started out as Second Lieutenant, got out as a Captain. And I had served under officers that were heroic, certainly. Some who weren’t. But who were, as they really are in the Army, a cross-section of humanity. I served under guys that were poets and painters and dreamers and schemers. And when I saw Hammond, he was by-the-book. A foil for O’Neill. And it just wasn’t true to what the service is really like. And so, they were kind enough to take my suggestions to heart. And they let me, especially as the show [went] on, make him more and more human.

David Read:
OK. So that didn’t happen overnight?

Don Davis:
No. In fact the director of the pilot, a man with very limited imagination in my opinion named Mario Azzopardi, wanted him to be the stereotype. But he didn’t have a 5-year contract. I did. And I wasn’t gonna spend five years betraying the kind of character that I was supposed to portray.

David Read:
So, your experience as a Captain… The Army? Is that the right branch?

Don Davis:
Yep. I was in the Army.

David Read:
So that really had a lot to weigh in on the way that this character developed?

Don Davis:
[It] had everything to do with it.

David Read:
OK. Out of the seven seasons that you were on the show, can you remember the most grueling day, for whatever reason?

Don Davis:
No. Acting isn’t a very grueling business, really. I started working when I was 13. Acting isn’t really work. It’s playing cowboys and Indians.

David Read:
OK, then what about some of the most joyous moments that you can recall on the set?

Don Davis:
Too many to single one out. I’m not trying to avoid your questions. I was really… Especially in this show, but I’ve been lucky in a lot of shows. I was working with a cast that I really liked every member of. And with a crew that I had already worked with for twenty years. So, I was surrounded by people that were friends and family. I loved Stargate. Every moment of it. And still do. I’m apparently gonna do another episode here next month.

David Read:
Great. For Season Ten. Good. Will you have a little bit more involvement than you did in the previous…

Don Davis:
I doubt it. One of the good things about good drama is it mirrors life, and in life people move on. They get older, they retire, they die, they get a better job, or a worse job, whatever happens. And Hammond has been gone now for some time. I don’t even know how they’re gonna bring me back. In fact, that’s another coincidence. The script for the episode I’m in just arrived as I got home and threw these clothes on to come and meet you guys. So, I haven’t even looked at it yet.

David Read:
You’ve always been considered the fatherly figure of the cast. And it’s very obvious to anyone who has come to see you at conventions that to this day you feel very close to these people.

Don Davis:
Yes.

David Read:
Can you tell us a little bit about your feelings toward each member of the regular cast, as well as Teryl? If you wouldn’t mind.

Don Davis:
Well, everybody knows, Teryl’s like a daughter to me. In fact, she refers to my wife as “Mom.” She’s just an all-around special person. And amazingly talented. Her and Amanda both are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside, and they’re both very, very talented people. Michael is a special guy. I think that Michael… I don’t know how to delicately put this. Michael will do himself a disservice if he doesn’t quit doing television and start doing film. He really is exceptional. Chris Judge has the biggest heart of any man I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen a guy who can walk into a room… It doesn’t matter if they’re ambassadors and diplomats and little, tiny kids, and somebody in off the street. He makes you smile. He’s got an aura about him that is the best part of life. And Rick… You know, you forget, or some people forget, that how long he’s been around, and how unique… He’ll be in all the history books of television. In fact, the dictionary, actually —

David Read:
MacGyver.

Don Davis:
— was gonna add MacGyver to the American language because that character was so strong. And he’s done the same thing with O’Neill. He literally took a character that another man introduced… Kurt Russell in the movie introduced the character. And he went in an entirely different direction. He made the character a giant standing next to a midget. And I’m a big Kurt Russell fan. I’ve worked with him. He’s a lovely man. I’m not, in any way, belittling his talent. It’s just that Rick took this character, and he did exactly what he did in MacGyver. To the extent that the Air Force literally gave him a medal.

David Read:
Yes. Honorary Brigadier General.

Don Davis:
There you go.

David Read:
That was incredible. You said that Hammond was influenced by your experience in the Army. How has the Army influenced you?

Don Davis:
Well, I’m one of those people that I wouldn’t have the life I had today if I hadn’t been in the service. I wound up going into service… I never believed that the Vietnam War was justified. It was a lie. It was built on a lie. I think the Iraq problem is the same thing. But the military doesn’t start wars. Politicians do. Either to line their pockets or because they’re stupid or because they’ve obligated themselves to somebody who has said, “I need a war. Go fight one.” And so, they are in control of the military, and they put out propaganda, and say “We’re threatened unless we do something.” And then a war starts. The people that have to fight it very often know that they’re going into harm’s way not for a valid reason, but they’ve gotta do it. And it’s been that way throughout history. “Into the valley of death rode the five hundred.” They knew they were riding into the valley of death. Today’s no different. I get very angry when I hear people abuse the American military. Sure, there have been some incidents of some mistreatment of prisoners, but how can today’s public be so short-sighted not to remember the atrocities that these people were committing, that this crazy war is now supposedly being fought to right — How can the public forget the Japanese treatment of prisoners in World War II? What the hell right does Japan have to complain about a couple of bombs when they were the instigators of the Bataan Death March? Men, women and children. And the Germans? They may make a good Volkswagen, but how can you ever forget what happened in World War II? And Bosnia, and Serbia. One of the problems with mankind is that we are an animal that distrusts animals not like our pack. And there is always gonna be someone with their own agenda that’s gonna cause our pack to try and kill the other pack. That’s the nature of the beast. But within each pack, there are good people who take up the sword to defend their kind. Boy, that’s gonna get me in a lot of trouble.

David Read:
So, let’s take it back.

Don Davis:
No. I’m blunt. You ask a question, you’re gonna get an answer.

David Read:
Good. Thank you.

Don Davis:
May not be what you want.

David Read:
No. Thank you for being so honest with us. The show has taken on a drastic transformation since the beginning of Season Nine. Have you watched any of these episodes since? Have you caught any of them?

Don Davis:
I honestly don’t watch a lot of TV. I would have the same answer for about any show. I watch golf matches and the World Poker Tour because I’m not good at sitting still, looking at a screen. I watch old movies. I don’t know what was on last night, but I watched a poker game and then I watched The Ex-Mrs. [Bradford], which is an old film from the 1940s that happened to star William Powell, who was in The Thin Man series. And because it was set in the 30s all the sets were art deco. So, I watched it. I’m sure there was some brilliant currently made drama that would have been much better for my soul, but I laughed. And that’s what life should be.

David Read:
Then in terms of the show’s transformation from what you’ve been told by the producers from what you come in, do you think this is a healthy direction the show has taken in order for it to survive, or do you think it’s long past its time? SG-1, not Atlantis.

Don Davis:
I don’t think it’ll ever be past its time. The bible for Stargate is based on the whole lexicon of human mythology. That’s the spine. So, the next conflict fought by the next addition of the four people that went through the gate is still gonna be valid. As long as they stick to it. Once the show starts being all about, if it ever does, mechanics and special effects, then it’ll be past its time. You’ve got a bunch of really outstanding, creative minds that work on the show. I don’t think they’ll ever let it go there. And the fans I’ve talked to feel the same.

David Read:
Good. It’s funny how life changes our plans, like you’ve said. I remember watching on one of the Stargate DVDs an interview where you said you would play Hammond as long as RDA was involved with the series. When was it that caused you to make the decision that it was time to move on anyway?

Don Davis:
My health problems, which I haven’t hidden those. One of the reasons I am so loyal to Stargate is they were so loyal to me. In 2002 I had, just at the start of the season, a major operation. I had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and they had to remove a large part of my aorta. Most shows would’ve cut me off. Stargate stood by me. I never missed a single paycheck. They scheduled the episodes around me, and when they brought me back, they made sure that there was nothing that I was asked to do that might put me in harm’s way. But there comes a time where you really can’t, if you’re in my condition. I’m a heart patient. I’m a diabetic. I’ve got other minor problems, and it’s really time to slow down. I joke, but I really am. One of my doctors said I’ve got more scar tissue than anybody he’s ever worked on. Because I’ve done stunts. I was in the military. I was an athlete when I was a young kid. And then I’m just stupid and clumsy. And now I’ve got arthritis along with other things. I take a lot of pills every day. So, I’m very aware of my mortality. And especially after Season Seven. And especially with the loss of one of the family.

David Read:
Teryl.

Don Davis:
Yeah. It just wasn’t the same for me.

David Read:
Was Heroes hard to do?

Don Davis:
Yeah.

David Read:
All the fandom was affected.

Don Davis:
I think it was a good episode, the two-parter but, you know, we went from Showtime to the Sci Fi Channel, and they wanted to see a major thing. That’s an arbitrary decision made by some stupid bean counter. But of course, Stargate had no option to refuse that. So, somebody had to go. I don’t like change. I’m old. There’s enough change. Every day they invent a cel phone that I have no idea how to use, or a computer that I buy and, a week later, it’s obsolete and it’s worth pennies on the dollar for what I spent for it. When I was a young guy, a computer had to be housed in a building. The whole world’s changed.

David Read:
Ruby Fleming, your wife…

Don Davis:
…has restored my life.

David Read:
Yes. Tell us about Ruby. How did you meet her?

Don Davis:
I write as well as do the rest of the thing, and years ago some friends of mine asked me to write a script for them that would be set here [in Vancouver]. And I wrote a detective story called Blues in the Rain. But again, I’m a very stubborn guy. You’ve gotta remember. I’m a Redneck hillbilly from the Missouri/Arkansas border, next to Oklahoma. It ain’t sunburn. I wrote it for my friends. So, I wrote a [Codicillus] to the thing that, to be produced, it had to star my friends. Ruby and a woman that she was partnering with, producing at the time, optioned the script, thinking “Well, nobody’s dumb enough that they won’t let you cast a name in the lead rather than his friend.” Well, I’m that dumb. So, they had several nibbles on having the money to produce it, but they had to use somebody else. And we remained friends. And as my first marriage fell apart, and only after I’d left my first wife, did she ever tell me. In fact, I had no idea that she thought that I was anything but dumb and ugly. But she took me in. And she is the most nurturing person I’ve ever known. And I love her more than anybody I’ve ever loved in my life.

David Read:
You tell a story at conventions every once in a while. I think you were over at Teryl’s house, and I think you two were dating. Could you please tell us that one again?

Don Davis:
Teryl’s mate is a great guy named Cal Krustine. Calvin is an RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] officer. At that time, he was the head of the homicide division in Burnaby. And there were a bunch of house invasions that had occurred. More in one small span of time than had ever occurred before. Ruby and I had arranged for our first date. And it was gonna be on, I think a Wednesday night, or something. Calvin had been just killing himself at work, and Teryl and him had decided they needed to get out. They were used to calling me and I was always the fifth wheel. Well, this time I had a date. Calvin said, “Well we wanna come with you.” And I really didn’t think anything about it. I’m not very bright. And I said, “OK.” We went to a wonderful local steakhouse. The two women, by the way, at the time smoked. Anyway, we got seated… We met at the steakhouse. We arrived in different cars. We got there, and Calvin and I started talking, as two guys will. And the poor women kind of got ignored. We had our salads, and we had some wine. He and I got to talking about crime and injustice, and all this crap. In general terms, of course, because he couldn’t tell me about ongoing investigations, never would do that. As a result, we kind of neglected the two women. So, between one of the courses and the main course they decided to go outside and smoke. And Teryl asked Ruby how long had we been dating. And Ruby said “Well, it’s our first date. We’ve known each other for ten years.” And Teryl said, “Well, you know, he’s a good guy.” And Ruby said “Yeah, I really like him.” And Teryl said, “Well, I don’t think he knows that.” Ruby said, “Well I’ve given him plenty of indications.” And Teryl said “He’s not very bright. You’re gonna have to hit him over the head.” They came back in, and Calvin and I finally realized that we had irritated them, or something. So, we tried to pay more attention. We finished the meal, and Calvin decided that we should come over to their place for a night cap. So, we went over to their place, and immediately upon arriving… Teryl and I disagree about this. She says Calvin went to the bathroom, but no. She went to the bathroom. And Calvin got a call from work. And he had already poured these humongous tumblers full of scotch, to the brim. And they both left the room. And I told Ruby. I said, “Honey, I’ve gotta get some ice and water in this thing or I’ll be a dead man.” And she agreed. Now, when we left the restaurant, as I opened the car door for her, which gentleman from the south always do for their women, she turned around and kissed me.

David Read:
Over the head, Don.

Don Davis:
Yeah, but it wasn’t [Imitates a slobbering smooch]. It was [imitates a polite kiss]…was on the lips! And I thought that was kind of funny. But I didn’t wanna insult her, so I just gave her a peck back. But anyway, I thought “Hmm …” And then I said — We had to have some ice, and she followed me in the kitchen. And when I handed her a glass, she kissed me again. Well, that’s like putting fresh meat in front of an old dog. I set my glass down and I had her on the floor. And Calvin walked in, and he grabbed Teryl and brought her in. Then we discovered that we kind of liked each other. Of course, Calvin and Teryl wanted to complete visiting with us, but I now had gone in heat. And so, I guess, as we stayed in the living room talking — they weren’t about to leave us alone again — I started coming out with some strange lines. They weren’t lines. Everything was from the heart. But Calvin, at one point, started laughing at what I was saying so hard that he fell off his chair. And they never let me forget that. But it’s been good ever since.

David Read:
Good. Glad you’re happy.

Don Davis:
I am.

David Read:
In the years ahead, as Stargate continues to grow and transform, what would you like fans to remember about your involvement, your footprints, if you will, in this franchise?

Don Davis:
Just that he was a good man who took care of his people. That it was a true portrayal.

David Read:
Good. Few more and then we’re done. What makes Stargate as successful as it has become? Why has the show gone on as long as it has?

Don Davis:
Well, I think 90 percent of that’s Rick. You got a good cast, and you got good scripts, but Rick was the one that put the humor in the show. He insisted on humor. He was and is at a time of life where he achieved his goals. And if he was gonna work, he wanted to have fun working, and he wanted everybody else to be having fun. And that translated into where the show went. Again, all you have to do is see the original Stargate movie and feel the tenor of that piece, the aura of that piece, and watch Stargate the series, and it’s sunlight and shadow.

David Read:
You’ve had a great deal of fan interaction. Can you share with us one or two specific experiences that you have had in your mind for better or for worse? You’ve done a lot of conventions.

Don Davis:
Yeah. The first Stargate convention I attended was in Australia. And they had invited Teryl, and her and Calvin were gonna go. And I guess she talked him into inviting me too. And on the way over there she told me that I needed to be smart when I was in the crowds. Tery loves fans and she tends to just jump into the mass and just have a good time. But she learned that the convention before over there that some people will take advantage. One fan grabbed her breast or touched her breast. And so, she just said it in passing as, “You can’t trust everybody so just watch yourself.” But she told that to the wrong guy. So, I got up and they introduced me, and I turned to the crowd and I said, “I’m gonna tell you people something. If any one of you is stupid enough to lay a hand on Teryl, I’ll put you in the hospital so there’s not gonna be any of that crap this year.” Well, there was kind of dead silence and then some people started to laugh thinking maybe I was telling a joke. And I said, “I’m not joking. I will hurt you. Any of you.” And then Teryl told me to shut up and say something funny, and we did, and I settled down and relaxed and we’ve done that ever since. I can’t imagine because I know that I’m not a celebrity. I’m just a guy. And everybody that knows me knows that years ago before I decided I wanted to be cremated, somebody asked me, “What do you want on your tombstone?” I said, “I want just the statement. He was good with his hands.” Because that’s the way I identify myself. I’m a builder and a sculptor and a painter. I’ve always been able to put things together. I’m not supposed to be seen on TV or in movies. It was never intended to be. And I came to it late in life. So, it’s been a strange thing for me and to think that someone would be kind enough to wanna sit in a crowded auditorium and listen to me rattle on, it is just mindboggling to me. Or that somebody would wanna pay money for my autograph. Hell, people that don’t see me on TV sometimes won’t take a check until I produce three pieces of ID. So, it’s a weird sensation.

David Read:
Don, thank you for taking time to come out here and talk with us.

Don Davis:
Thank you.

David Read:
Very much.

Don Davis:
Edit it well.

David Read:
I hate listening to myself from that period. Because I sound so… Is disingenuous the right word? Insincere? The canned chuckles. I’m not too bad with this one, interjecting myself like I did on a lot of the others.

Darren Sumner:
You were a kid.

David Read:
But part of it comes from… Most of these were phone interviews. I’m like 19 years old at this. 20 years old.

Darren Sumner:
Yeah, we were figuring it out.

David Read:
We were figuring it out. And it wasn’t awful, but it was by no means my greatest sit down before. What were your first thoughts playing this again? “The pixels.”

Darren Sumner:
Well, other than the pixels… Other than, “Boy, I wish we would have preserved this in some future forward-looking format…

David Read:
DV Tapes.

Darren Sumner:
…which was really tough to do when YouTube was only two years old at this point. GateWorld had video… We had video on our website before YouTube existed. So, other than the screen quality, which I got over pretty quickly… Actually, I watched it on my 4K TV and didn’t bother me at all.

David Read:
Really? Have you had your eyes checked?

Darren Sumner:
I do need to get my eyes checked.

David Read:
I’d really look into it.

Darren Sumner:
But no, it’s because… OK. There’s a lot of interviews from that era that I would find difficult to watch because of the pixels. But Don draws you in.

David Read:
He does.

Darren Sumner:
Don just oozes that southern charm and you just wanna hear what he has to say. And I felt myself again. I’ve seen this thing a thousand times over the course of last 19 years, but I just get drawn in. Because he’s a storyteller. The cadence is what struck me.

David Read:
That Ozark cadence.

Darren Sumner:
I’m sure you’ve noticed this. You’ve done so many interviews. We as interviewers tend to match the energy of the person that we’re talking to. So, sometimes you can bring that up. Sometimes you can deliberately inject a bit of energy and bring somebody along with you. But especially when we were new at this, you kind of match the level of the room. And Don comes in and he’s really laid back.

David Read:
He couldn’t be laid back any more.

Darren Sumner:
Looking for his words. Just talking with that cadence that he does, you as an interviewer kind of fall down and settle into his level, is what I noticed. And that’s really common with interviews. You wanna meet the person where they’re at and have the conversation that they wanna have. I thought you did a great job, asking questions and then kind of getting out of the way.

David Read:
My skill level at the time. But it was just not following up. It’s, like, “OK. He answered that one. Tick. Next.”

Darren Sumner:
You were also watching the clock. Because we only had a set amount of time with him.

David Read:
Was that true?

Darren Sumner:
And you wanna ask everything.

David Read:
I think it was, like, “Once I have these questions down, I have nothing to say.” But let’s keep it to him. I was really happy.

Darren Sumner:
Well, it was also the place where we were at. If we were sitting outside at a coffee shop, we could go for an hour or two. But we were in his place of business at the agency.

David Read:
I was really surprised at how much I just didn’t remember about the conversation, about the things that he said, particularly about… I remember that he was a Captain in the army. And I remember that it had some influence. But he says it was the entire influence. He certainly gives his opinions about the first director of the franchise and he’s certainly entitled to them. But the fact that he molded this character… It’s something I said to someone else who will be contributing to the adventure that we’re gonna go on tomorrow live. Those characters are almost completely formed at the end of Children of the Gods. Almost. It doesn’t take the majority of Season One to leave the runway and get airborne like TNG did. And I don’t know why, it’s maybe partly you, but I always compare SG-1 to TNG. And Don was one of the reasons why that worked as well as it did. Because he made it… He made Hammond him. And like he says in this, the foil for O’Neill, the bristling cookie cutout, that wasn’t real. That’s not who those men were. He was there. He had that experience. And that’s why we resonated with it. Because we were responding to something that was true. That’s why it worked. We as audience member naturally intuit. We perceive more than we realize, especially when we’re really young. We read faces very well. We know when the wool is being pulled over our eyes from something that we are expected to accept as audience members being taken on a journey. And we know when the wool is being pulled over our eyes, often not always, when someone is being insincere or disingenuous. And Don wasn’t that. He was just the opposite.

Darren Sumner:
His character would never be that. As I’ve gotten distanced from this interview and I keep reflecting back on it over the years, there are two pieces of the interview that always stand out in my memory. And one is his comments about Teryl and the decision to kill off Janet, which we can talk about if you like. But the other one is this. The other one is his reflection on the fact that he was being pushed into a really stereotypical hard-nosed military mold of the mean boss, the foil for Colonel O’Neill, and he wouldn’t do it. And as he said in the interview, he knew he was gonna play this character for at least five years. He had a contract.

David Read:
He wouldn’t do it long term. He may have had to do it for Children of the Gods.

Darren Sumner:
Yeah. If it’s a one-off TV movie, then OK, maybe you play it the way that it is on the page or where the director is nudging you. But Don didn’t wanna do it. Not only because he knew that it would make the show better to do Hammond the way the it was — People would resonate with that — But also, because it was not genuine. He had to play the character that was genuine to him. And as somebody who had service in the army, who was an officer, he knew the number one thing that he needed to bring to General Hammond was somebody who takes care of his people.

David Read:
That’s the type of General that he wanted to portray. He could have been asked to and certainly provided a performance of a man who was in his twilight years. “There’s nothing happening at this facility. I’m just here pushing pieces of paper around. Oh, great. There’s a gate. You guys wanna go through it? That’s fine. You guys go ahead and do that.” Delegate it. “Have fun guys.” Much like O’Neill did, never opening his desk with a set of keys. And that’s not how he played it. He made Hammond a father figure for all of us in so many respects, and when he died… Let’s save that. You mentioned that that was the part of the interview that I always remember the most. His reaction to approach of the character early on the assembly line and when they’re oiling and greasing all of the parts of the character and getting him ready to put him out to all of us in Children of the Gods. No way is it in any way the man that says, “Yeehaw” in the back of the Needle Threader two years later at all. His was one of the most evolved and fairly quickly. And constitutionally, he couldn’t have done it in any other way because you’re right, it would have been insincere. He wouldn’t have spent his time on that. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Especially Don. But his relationship with Teryl — And I forgot how he felt about that. I can understand he legitimately – And [he] explains the reasons, business reasons, why that was done. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t any more sorry to lose his little girl.

Darren Sumner:
Yeah. He was angry that a studio executive, from his perspective at least, just wanted a shakeup. The show had been running for seven years and just wanted a shakeup.

David Read:
I didn’t remember that but yeah.

Darren Sumner:
And those two are thickest thieves in the convention scene…

David Read:
Oh God. Abbot and Costello.

Darren Sumner:
…Which we’ll see more tomorrow. But that’s brilliant.

David Read:
I can’t wait to share the hour tomorrow with everybody about what memories we’re gonna share, and so much of the footage that you guys are gonna get to see. We’re still organizing. It’s early days right now in terms of getting this thing ready to go. So, we’ll see how it pans out. But watching him, going through all of this material, has brought back so many feelings of this time frame [I] didn’t really forget about but just were dormant. And just how much fun we all had doing this work, getting it to fans. How much we enjoyed watching them enjoy being together on set. And it’s a really warm and fussy part of my life. Your babies were babies. I think your oldest was the only one you had at that point.

Darren Sumner:
Yeah, he was an infant.

David Read:
Now he’s a college student.

Darren Sumner:
Better than college. Don’t remind me of the passage of time.

David Read:
I know. And the bills. But it was really great to walk through this and get his perspective again. The other thing was… It’s all about me, David. His personal feelings on certain things, I am much more aligned with now than I was. And I contribute that to just world experience and everything else, when I remember sitting there and certainly bristling on a lot of things, now it’s like, “He’s right. Read between the lines there.”

Darren Sumner:
Whether you agree or disagree with whatever you’re reading between the lines, when Don speaks, he is…

David Read:
You shut up and listen.

Darren Sumner:
… A straight shooter.

David Read:
That’s right.

Darren Sumner:
He’s gonna tell you exactly what he thinks. He’s not gonna mince words, which is why — We had done several cast and crew interviews at this point but for him to come in — Now, he wasn’t on the show anymore. He wasn’t getting a regular paycheck from the show. But for him to come in and say things like, “Some stupid bean counter,” just know he’ll say whatever he needs to say.

David Read:
The way that you’ll be able to tell if I was able to digitize this in time, his interview in time, was at the end of it, if on my version you hear him say — Because if it’s the GateWorld version he won’t have said this. Because at the end of the interview, we say, “Thank you,” he says, “My pleasure. You’re welcome,” or something. Then he says, “Edit it well.” And I remember thinking, “I most certainly will not. I’m gonna keep every single second of this,” and we largely did. Except for the “Edit it well.”

Darren Sumner:
I was wondering, actually. When it faded to black, I was wondering how did it end.

David Read:
I remembered putting that in and I guess I took it out.

Darren Sumner:
That’s right. I remember that.

David Read:
Because there was no way I was gonna cut that man’s opinion. If I were to, where would I start and where would I finish? I’m not gonna do that. It’s not my place to, even as the editor.

Darren Sumner:
It’s a self-effacing move for Don. He’s from — We get this from a lot of folks, particularly some of the older actors who have been at it for a while. They’ll give you the time, but they’ll sit back and jaw at you for an hour. But they assume that you’re gonna pick out the best pieces and use it selectively. And we were, like, “No. We want the whole enchilada.” People wanna feel like they just sat in the room with you and had a conversation about Stargate and about your life and about what gives you joy, what gets you up in the morning. And Don had reached a point in his life, obviously, as he talked about in the interview, where he had a new lease on life.

David Read:
That’s right. He had gone through the quadruple bypass.

Darren Sumner:
After surgery and after he got together with Ruby, for sure.

David Read:
And two years later, just a little bit after this, he was dead. I’ll never forget sitting on the edge of my bed with you in my ear and rinky dink cell phone. And I remember my stomach just sank into my pants. And my heart was there, my stomach was, and my brain, I don’t know where my brain went. How did you find out?

Darren Sumner:
I got phone call. I was at school. Well, living at school. I was in my apartment and got a phone call from one of the talent agents and just let me know, “This is not a good phone call. I need to let you know what’s happened so that GateWorld can help get the word out and let Stargate fans know that this had happened.”

David Read:
Was it The Characters? Was it his?

Darren Sumner:
No, it was Julie Brown.

David Read:
Julie did?

Darren Sumner:
Yeah, Julie called me. I love her dearly. Before she became a talent agent, she was actor. She played Na’Toth on [Babylon 5] in Season One.

David Read:
And Gambit [Parts] 1 and 2 on TNG.

Darren Sumner:
So, I got a call from her. That’s the weird sci-fi funny part of the story for me was I found out from Na’Toth that General Hammond had passed. And first thing I did was call you. You had that personal connection, which I’m sure we’ll talk about a lot more on tomorrow’s stream. You had a personal connection, geographic connection with Don, with where he’d gone to school.

David Read:
That was the same school.

Darren Sumner:
We just processed it for a while and then I had to turn around and obviously write the obituary for GateWorld, which is how most fans found out.

David Read:
I’ll just never forget just sitting there, the weight of the bed, looking at Destin, my dog, next to me, and just being — He knew something was up really quickly because my mood completely changed. I just … This little dachshund, I just pulled him and dragged him to me.

Darren Sumner:
And we’ve had a bunch of these over the years. Every once in a while, I’ll have to pick up the phone or hop online with you and just say, “Hey, I just found out this person’s gone. That person’s gone.” But it started with Don. Don was obviously the big bomb going off for Stargate fans to sort recognize folks’ mortality. And you saw it in the interview. Don was very aware in the last years of his life, especially after his surgery, he was aware of his mortality.

David Read:
He was very happy.

Darren Sumner:
I think he was loving every single day that he got because he knew there weren’t likely to be a whole lot more of them. He probably wasn’t gonna live to 90.

David Read:
He knew that. He lists a few of the things going wrong with him, and I forgot how many there were. But that he was managing the way that he was, was — He was pretty strong man. Let me just say, I’ve got an anecdote tomorrow that you’ve never heard before that you are just not gonna believe. I can’t wait to see the look on your and Allan’s faces for it. This guy was an extraordinary man. His sports days were not just when he was in school. I’ll just put it at that.

Darren Sumner:
Yeah, I believe it.

David Read:
And the fact that when he was living his best life the last couple, three years there, routinely including fandom in it in one form or another… Us, Creation, Gatecon …We knew how much we meant to him as much he knew how much we — The other way around. And it’s a great memory that I am so thankful to have had with you and that we get to share it again, as we remember and celebrate his life.

Darren Sumner:
Cast and crew of Stargate have always said that Stargate is like a family, and it’s not like that on most shows. And that’s only the case when people decide that it’s a family and when you have folks in it who treat you like family. And every impression I get of Don from A to Z is that he treated people like family. He treated them like daughters and sons and maybe grandkids here and there.

David Read:
For sure.

Darren Sumner:
And that came to include fandom. It certainly did for Don. He spent enough time with us that it came to include fandom as part of the Stargate family.

David Read:
That’s right.

Darren Sumner:
This extended family. He really was the patriarch.

David Read:
I really wanted to cover his death in this because this really is a part one of two pieces. Tomorrow — We wanted to do the interview. I wanted to talk about what was in the interview and talk about his passing. Because tomorrow we’re gonna celebrate his life. And we’re gonna bring together people who loved him and people who admired him and from his — Just himself as a man but also himself as an artist. There’s a couple of interesting conversations that I really wanna have with a couple of specific people about it. And I’ve got something very special for you in the latter half of the show tomorrow. And for everybody.

Darren Sumner:
Well, I’m looking forward to it. You’re still keeping secrets from me.

David Read:
This is what I do.

Darren Sumner:
I don’t know what’s coming tomorrow.

David Read:
The first one was Amanda Tapping. Who knows what the next one will be. And not the least of which is the USS George Hammond will fly again tomorrow.

Darren Sumner:
Cool.

David Read:
Thanks, man.

Darren Sumner:
Well, Don said it in the interview. Don said when he’s gone, he hopes that people remember him as someone who was good with his hands. And that’s how we remember him. He was an artist who was not limited by any medium.

David Read:
All.

Darren Sumner:
He was a sculptor. He was a painter. He was an illustrator. He was a stunt man. And he was an actor. He was a great performer who gave us an amazing character. And not just a single character. Not just a set of episodes to watch but a world to live in where we felt like we were a part of. So, all love to Don.