Jaclyn
Smith and Roger Davis were married. They are now divorced. But
they are not apart; neither spiritually nor, if they can help
it, physically for very long. In this beautiful story about a
man and a woman Jaclyn recalls how it was--tells us how it is--and
gives us an idea of how it yet may be for her and the man she
had to leave--perhaps because she loved him too much to stay.
Jaclyn Smith and Roger Davis were married for five years. There were a lot of laughs and happy times, as well as sad times during that period.
They're still friends. They have dinner together once in a while.
Does love ever end?
Through they found they could not continue as man and wife, Jaclyn and Roger also discovered that they could not totally erase the love they once felt for each other.
Jaclyn often thinks of Roger. He thinks of her, too, when he sees her face on a magazine cover, or whenever a friend mentions her name to him.
Once they were lovers. Now they are friends.
"Sure they would fight when they were married," says a friend. "What married people don't have disagreements? I remember one time when we were all out to dinner, and Jaclyn got so mad at Roger that she just left the table in a huff and didn't come back."
The next day they kissed and made up, says the friend.
"Roger wasn't the easiest person to live with. He had such a tremendous ego as an actor and star of ‘Alias Smith and Jones'," the friend continued to explain, "and Jaclyn also had an ego because she was a very successful TV commercial model."
When she wasn't working, Jaclyn enjoyed being at home with Roger.
"She wasn't that crazy about cooking," a friend remembers, "so they'd eat out a lot. But she didn't have a maid at home. One day I went over to see Jaclyn and Roger and found her washing and cleaning the windows. They lived in an apartment in West Los Angeles, and she enjoyed fixing it up."
The
Davis marriage was subjected to pressures when rumor-mongers,
spotting Roger out alone on the town, assumed the two had split.
The rumors hurt Jaclyn, because she had faith in Roger and felt he wouldn't cheat on her.
One incident really upset Jaclyn, because she felt the press reacted unfairly to an innocent situation involving Roger and a girlfriend of hers.
Jaclyn had flown to New York to film a commercial, leaving Roger in Los Angeles. He went to a party by himself and during the course of the evening was photographed with a pretty girl. Suddenly, magazines jumped on the picture and printed it, claiming here was proof that the Davis marriage was in trouble. Jaclyn was hurt not because of the picture, but because the press misinterpreted the situation. The girl in question was a friend of Jaclyn's and Roger's, and had been a bridesmaid at their wedding. She'd just gone over to say hello to Roger, when photographers suddenly began taking their picture.
Jaclyn's frequent trips to New York to work caused talk all the time. There were times she'd go alone to Houston to visit her family. Roger stayed in Los Angeles. Again the rumors indicated the two had separated because they were spending far too much time apart.
While Jaclyn was away from Roger, she thought about him a lot.
Once she was so worried when Roger went on location to Utah to film an episode of Alias Smith and Jones that she asked a mutual friend to go along to make sure Roger wasn't hurt shooting the dangerous scenes, particularly those in a fast-flowing river involving huge rapids. Jaclyn was terrified he might be in danger.
A friend says, "When filming ended, Roger, his brother, Brent, and the show's producers were clowning around in the river. They were shooting the rapids in old inner tubes. It was very dangerous, and believe me, the crew were all holding their breaths. The guys (Roger, Brent and the producer) held onto each other, but the producer was caught in the rapids for several seconds before he broke free."
When a friend relayed the harrowing incident to Jaclyn, she felt a sudden chill. She told Roger of her deep concern and worry. He was reportedly irritated because she'd asked the friend to report back to her on what had happened. He felt he could take care of himself, he said.
Their marriage was basically a happy one, though filled with many separations due to the demands of their two careers. But gradually, they found themselves growing apart.
"I never came right out and asked Jaclyn about it," says a friend. "I had heard rumors she and Roger were divorced. All of a sudden I began seeing her around town at celebrity functions by herself, and I had this feeling that she wasn't with Roger anymore."
Jaclyn had moved from the West Los Angeles apartment she shared during happy times with her husband, into a Bel-Air mansion she bought from Roger (who also built the home.)
"Though the two were divorced, I often saw Roger's truck parked outside the house," says a friend who stopped by on one of those occasions to visit with Roger. "Roger was working on some repairs at the time."
"About two years ago, Roger was hospitalized for an undisclosed ailment," recalls another friend, "and when I went by to see him, he told me Jaclyn had stopped by to see how he was. Roger was really pleased that she'd come by to see him."
"Roger still cares about Jaclyn," observed a friend. "I think there are times he feels really bad that they aren't together any more."
But, though he might feel sad about losing Jaclyn, Roger hasn't been sitting at home brooding. Recently he and an attractive date joined others at a gala party held in a fashionable Beverly Hills boutique, Kamali.
Jaclyn has been dating actor Dennis Cole, who used to be the boyfriend of Deanna Martin (Dean's daughter) as well as the steady beau of Carole Curb, musician Mike Curb's sister.
He first met Jaclyn when he guested on Charlie's Angels playing a "crooked" dancing instructor who lured rich ladies into getting rid of all their money. Though Dennis' scenes were mainly with Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Kate Jackson, Dennis found he couldn't take his eyes off Jaclyn, and she found herself admiring him, too.
Though Dennis admits he has flipped for lovely Jaclyn, only time will tell if his positive thinking and attitude can convince her to become his bride.
After all, she still hasn't forgotten Roger.
And, though Jaclyn realizes that there
is no chance of getting back with her former husband, she knows
in her heart--as does Roger--that love never ends.
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