Biography
Mark Jonathan Davis is an actor, comedian, writer, and director. He was born in New York, raised in Arizona, and has lived and worked in Southern California since 1990. He has over 35 years of experience working as an actor, standup comic, singer, writer, producer, and consultant in film, television, music, advertising/marketing, and politics.
Davis began his professional career in radio in the early 1980's, working as morning show producer at legendary stations like KZZP and Pirate Radio. In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles to manage the Premiere Radio Comedy Networks, where he wrote and produced parody songs including "The Star Wars Cantina," "Jeannie's Diner," and "Rice Rice Baby." In 1992, Davis joined the KROQ-FM Kevin & Bean morning show in L.A. as creative director, producing jingles and comedy songs, conducting celebrity interviews, and creating memorable on-air characters such as Paul The 55-Year-Old Intern and Shakespeare Man, and zany impersonations of Lt. Sulu and Bob Hope.
Also in the 1990's, Davis performed voices for Warner Brothers' "Superman" and "Batman Beyond" cartoon movies and TV series, had a #1 song on The Dr. Demento Show, and worked as a network announcer, commercial producer, lyricist, and jingle singer for NBC, CBS, The Disney Channel, and Nick At Nite. He continues to provide copywriting, branding, and production services through his award-winning World Creative Supply advertising agency, which specializes in creating product names and ad slogans.
Davis has also worked as a stuntman in a Chris Isaak music video, developed theme park attractions and branding for Walt Disney Imagineering, written jokes for President Bill Clinton, appeared as himself on NBC's "NewsRadio," performed a Stupid Human Trick on the Late Show with David Letterman, and met President Barack Obama at a White House Holiday Party.
Since 2000, Davis has been recording and touring as Las Vegas lounge singer character Richard Cheese, who croons jazz/big-band versions of popular rock and rap songs. His Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine live swing band has sold over 250,000 albums/CDs, and continues to play sellout shows all over the U.S. and Europe.
As Cheese, Davis has appeared in the films "Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar," "Army Of The Dead," "The LEGO Batman Movie," "Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice," "Dawn Of The Dead," HBO's "The Leftovers," and he has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Jonathan Ross Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, CNN with Anderson Cooper, and MTV's Say What Karaoke. The band's newest release, 2021's "Big Cheese Energy," is their 28th album.
Through his independent record label Coverage Records, Davis also produced Johnny Aloha: Lavapalooza, an album featuring Hawaiian-style tiki music versions of rock and rap hits; Mozzapella, an a cappella cover act; "Sulu's Greatest HITS," a comedy album for "Star Trek" fans; and two albums of parody songs, "The Parody Songs The Destroyed Earth" and "Parody Songs For A Better Tomorrow."
Davis's next venture is an autobiography about his showbiz career, "Grateful: 21 Years Of Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine," which will be released in 2021. He recently published "Fonts In Paradise: Signs Of Mid-Century Hawaii," a book of photographs of vintage Honolulu architecture. Davis is also developing books about politics, astronomy, and art history, which will be published by his new arts and entertainment venture World Art Supply.
In his spare time, Davis enjoys swimming, visiting museums, watching Turner Classic Movies, playing Scrabble, and eating pizza.
