"Despite years of making a living as an actor, I still think of myself as a director. I guess since I started directing as a teenager and continued for another twenty odd years it is deep in my bones. Is it because I like control or because acting doesn't seem like real work? When I was young, acting seemed like play and directing seemed to be a serious occupation. But when I got to theatre school, I began to understand the craft of acting and to appreciate both acting and directing as unique art forms. Directing for film is yet another form, combining some of the elements of theatre directing but adding many new challenges. One of these days I will settle on a career!"

Some of the positions Davis has held include:

• Producer and Artistic Director, The Straw Hat Players, Ontario
• Associate Director and Manager, The Civic Theatre, Chesterfield, UK
• Artistic and General Director, The Dundee Repertory Theatre, Dundee, UK
• Assistant Director, The National Theatre of Great Britain
• Artistic Director, The National Theatre School of Canada
• Artistic Director, Festival Lennoxville, Lennoxville, Quebec
• Producer and Executive Producer, CBC Radio Drama
• Artistic Director, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre School
• Proprietor and Artistic Director, The William Davis Centre for Actors’ Study

In addition to his work with these companies, Davis has worked as a free lance director with many theatres in Britain as well as most of the regional theatres in Canada, including The Neptune Theatre in Halifax, The Globe Theatre in Regina, Theatre New Brunswick and three times at The Vancouver Playhouse. In 1975 he received the Best Director Award from The Montreal Star.

Davis' most Recent directing achievements were; Hay Fever by Noel Coward, produced by United Players at the Jericho Arts Centre 2011, Waste by Harley Granville Barker for United Players, January 2011, and Matters Domestic by Barbara Ellison at The Vancouver International Fringe Festival in 2009. All shows were well received and reviewed - Matters Domestic was one of the few Fringe shows selected for holdover.