The ‘unconventional’ Ellen Davis taught theater to generations in Miami. She died at 94
The best teachers illuminate their subjects. They can leave impressions that last a lifetime.
Actress Ellen Bloch Davis, who started to teach acting in South Florida in 1960, honored her chosen craft and helped generations of her students find lasting careers in the arts on stages, film and TV from Miami to Broadway. She also taught many of them how to live off the stage.
For all of these reasons, many of her former students are celebrating her spirited life and sharing gratitude after learning Davis had died in Hollywood at age 94 on Sept. 27.
“Ellen was a force of nature. Smart, articulate and gifted with a wicked sense of humor, she was a beacon to so many of us who had the pleasure of calling her friend, mentor or both,” said Carbonell Award-winning playwright Michael McKeever.
“As a teacher, she was passionate about having young people discover who and what they were — and to be proud of it. She touched the lives of so many of us, empowering us to strive to be the best we could be. While the world will be a little less bright without her in it, her legacy lives on through the countless students and artists whose lives she enriched,” McKeever said.
Davis’ background
Davis was born in Berlin, Germany, in May 1927. Her family said that at 2, she was a model on a German magazine cover. By 8, she was dancing ballet on the German stage.
“But, anti-Semitism, fueled by nationalism and populism, forced her from her home and her country,” her family wrote for her obituary. At 10, she emigrated from Germany to the United States, grew up in Chicago where she studied at Goodman Theater and Northwestern University, and later earned her master’s in theater at the University of Miami.
Davis had roles in theater, radio and television in Chicago and in Charleston, South Carolina, but envisioned a tantalizing option.
“Always the performer, and a lover of the theater, she learned that she could actually be paid to teach theater — and a career was born,” her family wrote.
She started teaching in 1956 and, after her move to Miami in 1960, taught theater first at North Miami High School for 11 years, then 10 years at North Miami Beach High.
Davis also helped start the PAVAC (Performing and Visual Arts Center) program in Miami-Dade in the mid-1970s, and, in 1985, became New World School of the Arts’ first high school drama teacher.
An eye for talent
When two 16-year-old pals — Billy Corben at New World and Alfred Spellman at North Miami Beach High — produced an AIDS education video project for World AIDS Day in December 1994, Davis was keen to get involved.
“She was one of the earliest supporters of our work and our first company, Spellman/Corben Productions, that we started as sophomores in high school,” Corben said. “Alfred and I hired her as our [volunteer] casting director on our very first ‘professional’ project.’ ”
The project was “Waiting ...” about a high school girl awaiting the results of her HIV blood test. “Waiting ...” premiered on World AIDS Day at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida (now HistoryMiami Museum) in 1994, and it was shown in middle and high schools in Miami-Dade, Broward and Orange counties.
“I figure in about 10 years, we’ll all be working for them,” Davis said of Corben and Spellman, the Herald reported in 1995, when the pair held auditions for their second production, “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” which focused on abortion, teen pregnancy, drug abuse and crime.
Corben and Spellman would go on to form rakontur, the Miami Beach-based studio behind documentaries and miniseries including “Cocaine Cowboys,” “The U” and “537 Votes.”
An honor before a U.S. president
While at New World, Davis was recognized as a Distinguished Teacher of 1993 by the Presidential Scholars Program and received her award at the White House with President Bill Clinton serving as the keynote speaker.
As a lifelong Democrat, that was exciting, she told the Miami Herald at the time. “The most excitement was when the kids were receiving their medallions, and all of a sudden, someone announced: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.’ ”
After the ceremony, Davis explained her teaching philosophy. “Theater is joyful. I try and help the students find the joy of creativity; of not being afraid to be themselves; of wanting to share their talent with others.”
Davis directed plays at regional theaters in South Florida and maintained a working relationship with several of her students after they went pro.
“It is important to develop students into playwrights, as well as actors and directors,” Davis told the Herald in 1993. She never really considered exiting the stage.
“I know I can keep working as long as I want to work,” Davis said at the time. “I like the energy that I can get from teaching, as long as I can give energy back. I’m very lucky. I have an incredible source of energy, and as long as that’s there, I’m in good shape.”
If one were to develop a play or musical based on Davis’ life, it would take one heck of a playwright to capture her grand character in full.
“Ellen had more joie de vivre than any 10 people I know,” said arts writer Christine Dolen, the Miami Herald’s former theater critic. “She was both a theater expert and an enthusiast — always excited to be seeing a show as a member of the Carbonell Awards organization. She stayed slim and kept her hair red all her life, enjoyed a glass of red wine and a cigarette, but most of all glowed with pride at the accomplishments of her former students like playwright Michael McKeever and so many others. From first to last, Ellen was an original.”
Retire? Technically, she left New World in 1996 via her retirement from the Miami-Dade County school district. But Davis quickly pivoted to a teaching role at Miami Dade College’s North Campus as an adjunct professor in the drama department.
Davis was McKeever’s high school drama teacher at North Miami Beach Senior High from 1976 to 1980. After graduating, McKeever, managing director at Miami’s Zoetic Stage, has enjoyed a career in the arts, including a world premiere of his play “The People Downstairs” at Palm Beach Dramaworks in December.
The pair reconnected in the mid-1990s, about 15 years after McKeever graduated from high school. Davis had come across McKeever’s first play, “That Sound You Hear,” after he had submitted it for a play reading series at Area Stage in Miami Beach. Davis was one of the readers.
“We became great friends and colleagues and worked together in a number of productions as playwright and director, and once even acted opposite each other in my play “37 Postcards” at New Theatre back in the late ’90s,” McKeever said.
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Reaction
“Although my mother had only two biological children, myself and my brother, Larry Davis, we have had an infinite number of siblings,” said Davis’ daughter, Karen Pomerantz. “Our mom opened her heart to all. She offered encouragement, advice and support to countless students. She was not conventional in any way — full of passion for life, for justice, and for her family, friends, students and theater. Always on stage, whether in the theater, in a classroom, or at home. We are all better for having her as the matriarch of our family. She leaves a big hole but many memories.”
Fellow thespians and fans shared some of those memories on McKeever’s Facebook post.
▪ “Ellen made a tremendous mark in my life when I first moved to Miami and she cast me in a play at Miami Dade that she was directing. What a wonderful woman and role model,” wrote Ann Marie Olson.
▪ “She was such a great lady. So many fun playreading and theatre party memories back in our heydays,” wrote Wayne LeGette.
▪ “A major guiding force in my life at a pivotal moment. Will forever be grateful to her,” wrote Jorge Luis.
▪ “[H]er passing is a loss to the entire community: an outspoken, honest and passionate lover of all iterations of theater. We are all poorer for her absence,” wrote South Florida theater critic William Hirschman.
▪ “Ellen is one of the reasons we have New World School of the Arts. Such a dynamo!” wrote Carol Caselle.
Survivors and donations
Davis’ survivors include her children, Larry Davis and Karen Pomerantz, six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
There won’t be public services due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since her family wrote that their mom “always believed in the value of the arts to improve and enhance all of us,” they ask that if anyone is thinking of donations in Davis’ honor, that you contribute to theater programs in your community.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
