Chicago native who started as an assistant cameraman on famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool" (1968). Davis moved to L.A. and began his first career as a director of photography working on "Hit Man", "Cool Breeze" (both 1972) and Jonathan Kaplan's "The Slams" (1973). He made his feature directorial debut with the independent musical "Stony Island" (1977), which he co-wrote and produced. Davis returned to cinematography with the unsettling teen drama "Over the Edge" (1979) directed by Jonathan Kaplan and the enjoyably trashy "Angel" (1983).

Davis made his first foray into action films with the Chuck Norris starrer "Code of Silence" (1985). He continued in that vein with his first big hit, "Above the Law" (1988), which showed a flair for location shooting and toplined then-unknown Steven Seagal. He reteamed with Seagal for a second hit, "Under Siege" (1992), a lavish "Die Hard" imitation set on a battleship which boasted taut action highlights. Davis followed his success with the highly successful Oscar-nominated "The Fugitive" (1993), a remake of the 1960s television series starring Harrison Ford and "Steal Big, Steal Little" (1995), a comic fable starring Andy Garcia as stereotypical good and evil twin brothers.