Russ and Sylvia Davis Collection

Collection Items

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Color Reject on Wrestling, (SMPTE) Special Society
Film
Color Reject on Wrestling, (SMPTE) Special Society
1958
[Wrestling TV show]: Yulie Brynner vs Rose Roman
Film
[Wrestling TV show]: Yulie Brynner vs Rose Roman
1958
[Wrestling TV show outtakes]
Film
[Wrestling TV show outtakes]
1958
[Wrestling TV show title sequence]
Film
[Wrestling TV show title sequence]
1965
Raymond Massey Reads the Bible: Man’s Choice, David & Bathsheba & Rules of Living
Film
Raymond Massey Reads the Bible: Man’s Choice, David & Bathsheba & Rules of Living
1951
Raymond Massey Reads the Bible: The Greatness and Divinity of Man, The Returned of the Ransomed, On the Bible
Film
Raymond Massey Reads the Bible: The Greatness and Divinity of Man, The Returned of the Ransomed, On the Bible
1951
[Wrestling TV show]: Rose Roman vs Ramona TeSelle
Film
[Wrestling TV show]: Rose Roman vs Ramona TeSelle
1950s
I-O Corn Creek
Film
I-O Corn Creek
1957
[Wrestling TV show]: Joan Ballard vs Jean Noble
Film
[Wrestling TV show]: Joan Ballard vs Jean Noble
1956
Arapahoe, The
Film
Arapahoe, The
circa 1955
[Wrestling TV show]: Dick the Bruiser vs Bill Melby, Yukon Eric vs Hans Schmidt
Film
[Wrestling TV show]: Dick the Bruiser vs Bill Melby, Yukon Eric vs Hans Schmidt
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To request more information about the items in this collection, please contact the archive at info@chicagofilmarchives.org.
Items with Viewable Media
Collection Identifier
C.2008-04
Extent of Collection
370 reels of 16mm film totaling 303,387 feet of film, 1 folder of paper documents and photos
Language Of Materials
English
Custodial History
The films and paper materials in this collection were created and gathered by Russ and Sylvia Davis when they ran their television film production company in Chicago. The materials were stored in their house in California until Sylvia's death in 2005 at which point they were willed to her neighbors Ernie Goumas and Brian Zielinski. Goumas and Zielinski looked after Sylvia after Russ' death in 1969. They donated the collection to CFA in 2008.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to on-site access. Appointments must be made with Chicago Film Archives. Due to the fragile nature of the films, only video copies will be provided for on-site viewing.
Use Restrictions
Chicago Film Archives holds the copyright for the films in this collection and for documents created by the Davises. For the additional paper materials published by others, any determination of copyright status for reproduction is the responsibility of the user.
Creators
Davis, Russell (was created by)

Russell W. Davis was born in Kansas City, Missouri on September 15, 1909. After graduating high school in 1927, he worked at Kansas City radio stations until he left the city in 1931. From 1931 to 1940 he worked at a number of radio stations around the country including KOA in Denver and KWTO in Springfield, Missouri. Starting in 1941, he began working at the CBS radio affiliate in Chicago.

In 1946 he made the switch to television at WBKB, which was Chicago’s first commercial television station. He worked on a variety of shows including two different wrestling shows from the Rainbo and Midway arenas, boxing matches, and Christmas and New Year’s Eve specials. He provided commentary for a women’s baseball league, hosted a short-lived but popular amateur show The Knickerbocker Hours, was the emcee for a man-on-the-street show Off the Cuff, and was the announcer for The Jane Foster Show in which Foster and Davis advised housewives on their domestic problems. No copies of these shows are known to exist.

He left the station in 1949 to co-found IWF, Inc. with his wife Sylvia, who he married in 1946. IWF stood for both Imperial World Films and International Wrestling Films. The company primarily released syndicated wrestling shows that Russ announced. The show was leased to over 160 stations nationwide. Due to its success Russ Davis was considered a television pioneer amongst wrestling fans in the 1950s. The company also made sponsored films and a few other TV series including Raymond Massey Reads the Bible (1951).

From the summer of 1951 to May 1952 Russ and Sylvia hosted a daily talk show on WGN called alternately The Davises or The Russ Davis Show. In the show the Davises attempted to enlighten and entertain the viewers (mostly housewives) by interviewing guests from the world of high culture – opera singers, art critics, ballet dancers, musicians – in a welcoming, yet slightly irreverent tone.

He worked on the IWF wrestling TV shows until his death on March 14, 1969. He died of a heart attack after battling alcohol addiction for decades.

Davis, Sylvia (was created by)

Sylvia H. Carlson was born in the mid-1910s in Goteberg, Sweden. She moved to San Francisco with her family in 1930, and by 1937 was in charge of a beauty shop in the Russ Building. She met her future husband, Russ Davis, there in 1946. They were quickly married and she moved to Chicago where Russ had lived since the late 1930s.

Sylvia began to work behind-the-scenes on Russ’ television shows. In 1948, she was co-producer of his amateur talent show on WBKB, The Knickerbocker Hour. In 1949 Russ and Sylvia started IWF, Inc, a television film production company, with Sylvia acting as president. The company, called both International Wrestling Films and Imperial World Films, mainly produced a syndicated wrestling show, but also made sponsored films and a short run TV series with Raymond Massey. From the summer of 1951 to May of 1952 Sylvia was the co-host with Russ of a daily talk show on WGN-TV, The Russ Davis Show.

The couple divorced in 1954 and Sylvia remarried in 1957. By 1957, Sylvia and the company were based in Sonoma, California. Sylvia passed away in 2005.