Spartan Profiles: Stacey Davis
ROSEANNE PUBLICIST
One of television’s most successful shows, Roseanne, is now being shown around the country in syndication. Its publicist is Stacey Davis, ’93, who as director of publicity for NBC Studios had managed campaigns for such shows as Will & Grace, Providence, Profiler, and Crime and Punishment, among many others. Davis also publicizes the popular Hollywood Squares and other properties owned by King World Productions.
'This is a lot of fun stuff,' says Davis. 'There’s stuff going on all the time.'
For example, last fall she had to work with such celebrities as Bo Derek, Garth Brooks, Joan Rivers and Martin Short, who had guest appearances on Hollywood Squares. She has also worked with Pierce Brosnan, Robert Stack, Gary Sinise and Robert Conrad. 'You see so many celebrities in this line of work that you take it for granted,' Stacey notes. 'But the ones I remember from childhood still get me very excited—you know, stars like Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds and Red Buttons.'
A native of New Jersey, Stacey visited MSU after a huge snowfall and 'fell in love with East Lansing.' She says, 'Now it’s home to me. I spent four years at MSU, including all the summers. I loved it. (Journalism professor) Sue Carter was a very important person in my career.' So was MSU trustee Joel Ferguson, a family friend, who recruited her to MSU. Today,
Stacey attributes her career success to key MSU alumni contacts in the entertainment business, including Dennis Petroskey, who was a guest lecturer in her journalism class. 'He was a vice president at Fox and gave me great career advice,' she recalls. 'He told me that if I wanted a job here I need to move to L.A.'
Stacey moved to L.A. and landed a job as a production assistant with August Fire, an HBO movie starring Lou Gossett Jr. After working for several PR agencies and NBC Studios, she now has her own agency. One highlight she remembers was an evening she was with Robert Stack, who told some great stories involving his escapades with the late President John F. Kennedy. Recalls Stacey, 'I was thinking, ‘This is so surreal.’
