Bonanza World Biography:
David Canary by Short Shanks
David Canary, who played "Candy" Canaday on
Bonanza, has a personal connection to the Old West - he's said to be a descendant of Martha Jane Canary, "Calamity Jane." David was born in Elwood, Indiana on August 25, 1938, the son of Hilary and Lorena Canary. David's father, an executive with J.C. Penney's Department Store, moved the family to Massillon, Ohio when David was five years old. David also has a brother, John, who worked as an actor.
Football is an important tradition in Massillon - baby boys at Massillon's hospital are even given a miniature football at birth. David grew up playing football, and was co-captain of the football team at Washington High School. He also began singing at age 10, playing lead roles in school musical productions and singing in the choir. Upon graduating from high school, David accepted a football scholarship from the University of Cincinnati where he played varsity football throughout his college years. He also continued to pursue his love of music by majoring in music and voice in a combined program which allowed him to study as a lyric baritone at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and became the first-ever graduate of this combined program.
In a football game between the University of Cincinnati and Indiana, David suffered a broken nose while playing left end. You might think a theater career would have been a little safer - but later while David was acting in a Broadway production of
The Happiest Girl, a member of the chorus doing a high kick accidentally broke David's nose
again. Though incredibly painful, the "new" nose gave David's face a certain rugged, distinctive character.
In 1960 David was named to the Pop Warner Scholastic All-American football team, but when he was drafted for professional football by the Denver Broncos, he turned them down. Instead, David headed for New York to try for a career as an actor in the theater. He obtained acting jobs in plays, and also worked various other jobs such as providing security for Payne Whitney's mental health clinic, and selling toy trains in a department store.
Around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, David was drafted again - this time by the U.S. Army. He spent two years in Special Services in Texas, stationed at a top-secret atomic energy base near Fort Hood. During this time, he directed an Army theater production of
The Fantasticks, acted in nine other shows, and in 1963 competed in the All-Army Entertainment Contest where he won the top prize in the "popular music" category.
After successfully completing his Army service in 1964, David returned to acting, and married actress Julie Anderson on July 4, 1965 in Santa Monica, California. Their daughter Lisa was born on January 21, 1966. With a family to support, David sought out steady work in television, and appeared for six months during 1965-1966 on
Peyton Place in the role of physical therapist Dr. Russ Gehring. David also appeared in a 2-part episode of
Gunsmoke in 1967 ("Nitro") and landed the part of a tough bully, "Lamar Dean" in the movie
Hombre with Paul Newman.
Hombre was filming in Arizona next door to David Dortort's TV show
The High Chapparal. Dortort saw David Canary acting in the saloon scene and decided he wanted David to play "Candy," and in 1967 David joined the cast of
Bonanza.
David Canary remained with the Bonanza cast from 1967 to 1970, from the beginning of the 9th season through the 11th season when he left due to a contract dispute, and then rejoined the show in the final 14th season from 1972 to 1973. His character, "Candy" Canaday, a loner with a quirky, irreverent sense of humor, first appears in episode #271
A Sense of Duty in which Candy walks into the Cartwrights' camp in the middle of the desert during an Indian uprising, flashes a big smile, and asks for a horse and a can of peaches. He doesn't get the horse but does gets the peaches, and over time earns the Cartwrights' friendship and trust, eventually rising to the job of foreman on the Ponderosa ranch. Candy's background is shadowy, in keeping with the code of the West that you don't pry into a man's history, but over the course of many
Bonanza episodes it emerges that he was orphaned at a young age and grew up as an "Army brat" at Fort Delaney. Candy's mother died when he was 4 and his father was killed when Candy was 9; it is also revealed in #306
A Salute to Yesterday that Candy's marriage to his wife Ann was broken up by her parents, who had the marriage annulled.
Here are some quotes by and about Candy that highlight his irreverent, engaging character:
"Kinda comes right at you, don't he? I like that!" - Josh, one of Farrell brothers, about Candy in
The Stronghold Joe: "He's alive."
Candy: "Oh yeah, the others turn pale right off."
(
Check Rein)
The following episodes are highly recommended by Bonanza World's esteemed Candy experts for those interested in learning more about Candy Canaday's history, background and character:
#271 Sense Of Duty - first Candy episode
#274 Night Of Reckoning
#277 Desperate Passage
#279 Showdown At Tahoe
#281 Check Rein
#292 Star-Crossed - romance
#293 Trouble Town
#297 To Die In Darkness - David Canary's personal favorite episode
#300 The Stronghold
#306 Salute To Yesterday - Candy's former wife, Ann, and childhood friend Angel
#314 Queen High
#322 Company Of Forgotten Men - Candy's Army background
#327 The Deserter - more of Candy's Army background
#336 The Silence At Stillwater
#341 The Stalker
#416 Forever 1 & 2
#419 Riot
With the cancellation of
Bonanza in 1973, David Canary became more involved with movies and television. His roles included
Melvin Purvis: G-Man (1974),
Johnny Firecloud (1975),
Sharks' Treasure (1975),
Posse (1975),
The Daine Curse (1978) and
In a Pig's Eye. However his first love was musical theater, and he returned to New York to pursue an acting career on the stage. Among the many theatrical productions in which David appeared were "Man of La Mancha," "Macbeth," "Othello," "Kiss Me Kate," "A Streetcar Named Desire,""The Fantasticks," "Sweeney Todd," "The Beggar's Opera," and "Kismet."
In 1981, David Canary joined the cast of the daytime TV soap opera
Another World where for about a year and a half he played the character Stephen Frame. David's first marriage to actress Julie Anderson had ended in divorce, and he married Maureen Maloney, a singer and actress in 1982. The couple moved from Manhattan, New York to Wilton in upstate Connecticut to raise their two children, a son Christopher and daughter Katie.
David landed his current long-running dual role on the TV soap opera
All My Children in 1983, playing twin brothers Adam and Stuart Chandler. A "split screen" technique is used for scenes in which David plays both twins appearing together, and David has also developed different mannerisms and style to portray each twin. He may have had some insights on this from personal experience, as his own father and uncle are identical twins. David's tremendously successful career on
All My Children has garnered nominations for Emmy Awards in 1997, 1998 and 1998, and David won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, and 2001, as well as a Soap Opera Digest Award in 1999 for "Favorite Couple" with Jennifer Bassey (Stuart and Marian). He has continued to do TV guest appearances on shows including
Law & Order and
Touched by an Angel, and continues to act in theater productions. Most recently, David took a starring role in "Proof" at the Players' Guild Theater in Ohio from January 16-25, 2004.
Asked in an AOL Chat about his favorite type of music, David said, "I love musical theater probably more than anything," but added, "I love classical music too. I'm a Beethoven freak." David recorded an album called
So Many People. He's also been described as having a love of the outdoors and enjoying camping, fishing and woodworking. And his hometown of Massillon, Ohio is very proud of him - if you visit Massillon, be sure to take a walk down David Canary Drive!
--Short Shanks
Sources Rebecca's Library
www.candysgirl1.net/Library.html Emmy's Quick Facts
bonanzaworld.net/quickfacts.shtml#candy IMDB bio
us.imdb.com/name/nm0133597/ AOL Chat
www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Studio/5721/dcanaryaol.html New York Times. New York, N.Y.: May 13, 2001. pg. 14CN.3
The Oregonian. Portland, Or.: Jun 4, 2000. pg. 16
...and thanks to the Candy Experts on Bonanza World, Grey, Rebecca and Candyfan!
The great pic is from GreyLupous!
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It was great reading about the man behind my favorite character! 
I've always felt so bad for David when he had his nose broken the second time by the high kick! :o uch!!!!!!!!
I had a great time learning about David Canary's interesting life and career - Rebecca's site in the sources list is a terrrific one, if you haven't had a chance to visit it yet!
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