San Diego Junior Theatre Alumni

Darlene Geer Gould Davies

Darlene Geer Gould Davies is a JT Kid. She performed in seven San Diego Junior Theatre productions between 1951 and 1954, including the Old Globe Theatre production of "The Rose and the Ring" in 1952. She returned to the Globe in the 1956 production of "The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker," and then spent the summer studying at the Pasadena Playhouse. The next year, she entered San Diego State College as a theatre major, graduating with honors in 1962, having been awarded the only dramatics award from the college for the year 1961. Darlene was the Player Queen and understudied the role of Ophelia in William Ball's "Hamlet" at the Old Globe in 1960. While she earned her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 1965 and worked professionally in that field, she continued to perform at Mission Playhouse and San Diego State University, and she produced arts programs for KPBS-FM from 1985-88. For 12 years, Darlene was a part-time lecturer at SDSC, while she simultaneously served as clinician and department Chair at Children's Hospital and Health Center, then as founding supervisor of the speech and language clinic at Balboa Naval Hospital. In 1976, she joined the SDSU faculty full time, where she remained for the next 18 years. Darlene earned a post-Master's Educational Specialist degree from Point Loma Nazarene College in 1985. She retired from SDSU in 1994 as Professor Emerita, but maintained a part-time private practice. Darlene was appointed and re-appointed by five San Diego mayors to five separate boards and commissions, including the Commission for Arts and Culture and the City Parks and Recreation Board. She served as Vice-Chair and Chair of the Balboa Park Committee for a total of nine years. Among her honors and awards are: Salvation Army Woman of Dedication in 1989; San Diego County Mortar Board Outstanding Alumna of 2002; SDSU Technology Innovation Award-2002; Darlene Davies Day in City of San Diego and County of San Diego-November 14, 2006; State of California Commendation Resolution # 1595 for Darlene Davies in California State Senate-2006, and the Friends of Balboa Park Millennium Award the same year. She was an SDSU Monty Award recipient in 2008. Darlene ventured onstage at the Old Globe, after many years, when she joined Dr. William Adams as a Celebrity sonnet reader at the annual sonnet reading evening produced by the Shakespeare Society in 2004. It was a meaningful evening for her for many reasons: early years there as a young performer; later ones as a member of the Globe's Board of Directors; and, most importantly, because of the nearby Old Globe outdoor theatre, named for her deceased husband, Lowell Davies. From time to time, she still finds creative outlets. For instance, she is the professional narrator of the centennial celebration video of the La Jolla Presbyterian Church. She has also co-produced fifteen videos, with the important collaboration of Martha Longenecker, Paul Marshall and Rob Sidner, which document significant exhibitions and history of Mingei International Museum. Fourteen of those have repeatedly aired on UCSD-TV, and have traveled with exhibitions to other museums. San Diego Junior Theatre opened its doors to Darlene, and that made all the difference. She will forever be a J T Kid.

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