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Hard-working Southern California surf filmmaker of the 1960s and early '70s. "Dale was one of the more popular surf filmmakers of the 1960s," Steve Pezman wrote. "His darkly-tanned body, complete with gold chains, encrusted wristwatch, and all the Beverly Hills trappings, caused him to stand out among the beach crowd."

Davis was born (1940) and raised in Santa Monica, began surfing in his early teens, graduated in 1963 from the Brooks Institute of Photography, and later that year released 

, his 1964 follow-up, was one of the first surf films to use a prerecorded narration. Davis—a slender, smiling, likable figure, with an amazing tan and perfectly slicked-back hair; the most "Hollywood" of all surf moviemakers—continued with 

While filming the big surf at Hawaii's Waimea Bay for his next movie, 1968's 

, Davis slipped from an open helicopter cockpit and dropped 40 feet into the water, breaking his back. He recovered, and Breed went on to become his best-reviewed movie, but Davis' comeback film, 

 was a critical and financial disappointment.

Davis wasn't a particularly original filmmaker, but his camerawork, framing, and editing were better than most of his '60s surf movie peers, and in 1967 he was voted runner-up to Greg MacGillivray in the filmmaker division of the International Surfing Magazine Hall of Fame Awards.

While making surf films, Davis also had his eye on a career in TV and movies. In 1963 he appeared in a never-sold TV pilot called "Surf Scene," starring singing duo Jan and Dean. In 1965, Davis hosted a locally-aired 30-minute show on KTTV called 

; the show was off the air the following year, but reappeared briefly in 1967, on KCOP, with former 

 star Tony Dow as cohost. That same year, Davis appeared as himself in 

 a semi-experimental documentary film that was banned by the French Ministry of Information for being a “danger to mental health," but later reassessed as a well-produced look at mid-'60s LA counterculture. In 

, Davis does the voice-over for his section, which opens with Dale skateboarding down a street high in the hills above LA, shirtless, wearing flower-print trunks and sunglasses. "I like skateboarding because I like the speed . . . especially when you're above Sunset Boulevard or up in Hollywood."

The next shot is of Davis poolside. "My name is Dale Davis, and I've lived here in Hollywood for the past 25 years, [because] it's close to the beach; close to the surf." The phone rings. A girl in a bikini answers and calls out to Dale who hops on a board and "surfs" across the pool. The waves are up, and Dale, the girl, and a friend all run out to Davis' new cream-colored Mustang convertible, load their boards, and drive off to Malibu.

Davis had a small nonspeaking role in the 1965 shlock-horror film 

Little is known about Davis' life between the mid-'70s and his death in 2001, from a stroke, at age 60. In a 2018 comment posted to YouTube, Davis' sister said "his earlier years were charmed. He lived to surf, skateboard, anything with a board . . . on the street or in the water. He spent a good part of his life in Hawaii, filming. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up with the big buck guys after 

He always lived life on an edge and became a victim to it." Davis' headstone, according to his sister, reads "He caught the last wave and rode it home."

Davis finished #2 in the Motion Picture division of the 1967 Surfing Magazine Hall of Fame Awards, behind Greg MacGillivray and ahead of Bud Browne.

Davis, Dale

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