Bob Davis, former WGMS host, has died

Bob Davis, a former stage actor who became one of the leading voices of WGMS, where he added a heavy dose of show tunes and interviews with theater personalities to the classical radio station’s repertoire, died of heart ailments Feb. 23 at his home in Chevy Chase. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by real estate agent Henry Schalizki, whom he married last June on their 62nd anniversary.

Bob Davis is pictured left.

With a resonant voice and warmly earnest delivery, Mr. Davis was an on-air presence at WGMS for more than 50 years until the station went defunct in 2007. Over the years, he conducted lunch-time interview shows at the Kennedy Center with visiting entertainers including Lena Horne and Angela Lansbury and hosted a Saturday program featuring the music of Broadway and Hollywood.

He once attributed his longevity at WGMS to “a complete lack of ambition, and I was very satisfied at the station.”

In addition to his work at WGMS, where he also specialized in theater reviews, he introduced classical-music concerts at venues including the private Landon School in Bethesda. With Schalizki, Mr. Davis attended nearly every opening night in local theater. Their arts patronage and philanthropy earned them a special honor in 2008 at the Helen Hayes Awards, the Washington theater community’s equivalent of the Tony Awards.