Clifton Davis net worth 2026 is estimated at about $3 million. That is the figure most sites repeat, and it sits in the middle of the range we can support: roughly $1.3 million on a cautious reading and $5.4 million on a generous one. It is an estimate, not a confirmed number. Davis has never published his finances.
What the record does show is a career that has lasted more than six decades. He wrote a Jackson 5 hit while still in his twenties, starred in two network sitcoms, earned a Tony nomination, and is now a series regular on a CBS daytime drama at 81. This article walks through that story and the math behind the number, with every assumption labeled.
Quick Facts: Clifton Davis Net Worth and Bio
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Real name | Clifton Davis (listed by CelebrityNetworth as Clifton Duncan Davis) |
| Date of birth / age | October 4, 1945; 81 |
| Birthplace | Chicago, Illinois; raised in Mastic, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Actor, songwriter, singer, minister |
| Known for | Writing “Never Can Say Goodbye”; That’s My Mama; Amen; Madam Secretary; Beyond the Gates |
| Estimated net worth | About $3 million (estimated range $1.3M to $5.4M) |
| Income sources | TV and stage salaries, songwriting royalties, hosting and speaking, ministry-related work |
| Relationship status | Married to Monica Durant since 2000 |
| Children | Two, from his first marriage |
| Height | Not reliably confirmed |
Who Is Clifton Davis?
Clifton Davis is an American actor, songwriter and minister born in Chicago on October 4, 1945. Most people know him in one of three ways: as the writer of the 1971 Jackson 5 hit “Never Can Say Goodbye,” as the young pastor on NBC’s Amen, or as the Director of National Intelligence on CBS’s Madam Secretary.
Those are three very different audiences, and that range is the key to understanding Clifton Davis net worth. Davis has moved between pop songwriting, Broadway, sitcoms, gospel television and the pulpit without ever really leaving any of them behind.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Davis was born in Chicago and spent much of his childhood in Mastic, on Long Island, New York. CelebrityNetworth reports that his father, Toussaint L’Ouverture Davis, was a minister and his mother, Thelma, a nurse. He attended Pine Forge Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school in Pennsylvania.
He then earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from Oakwood University and, later, a Master of Divinity from Andrews University, according to Wikipedia. Prabook dates those degrees to 1984 and 1987. It is an unusual résumé for a Broadway performer, and it explains why faith keeps showing up in his work.
His stage career started in the ensemble of Hello, Dolly! in 1964, where he later also understudied the role of Cornelius Hackl, according to IBDB. In Broadway language, an understudy covers a role and goes on when the actor is out, while a standby is dedicated to one role and waits backstage. Davis did both in his early years.
Career and Rise to Fame
His breakthrough came on two fronts at almost the same time. Davis was a young stage actor, but he was also writing songs, and one of them changed his life.
The Song That Outlived Everything
Davis wrote “Never Can Say Goodbye.” According to Wikipedia’s page on the song, it was originally written with the Supremes in mind before Motown decided it suited the Jackson 5. The group recorded it in June 1970, when Davis was about 24, and Michael Jackson sang lead.
It was released on March 16, 1971. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three straight weeks in May 1971, held off only by Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World,” and it reached No. 1 on the R&B chart. By the end of 1971 it had sold more than two million copies in the United States.
The song kept earning, which is why it sits at the center of any Clifton Davis net worth discussion. Isaac Hayes recorded it in 1971, Gloria Gaynor’s disco version reached No. 9 in the U.S. and No. 2 in the U.K. in 1974 and 1975, and The Communards took it to No. 4 in the U.K. in 1987. Davis is also credited with writing the Jackson 5’s “Lookin’ Through the Windows.”
Broadway, Early Television and That’s My Mama
On Broadway, Davis took over the role of Lee Haines in Jimmy Shine in 1968, stood by for a lead in Look to the Lilies in 1970, and originated Roger Porter in The Engagement Baby the same year. In 1971 he created the role of Valentine in Two Gentlemen of Verona, which earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical in 1972. IBDB also lists a 1971 Theatre World Award for him.
Television followed. CelebrityNetworth says he co-hosted a variety show with Melba Moore in the early 1970s. Then came ABC’s That’s My Mama, which ran from September 4, 1974, to December 17, 1975, for 39 episodes. Davis played Clifton Curtis, a bachelor barber pushed toward marriage by his mother.
Amen, Gospel and a Career Pause
Amen ran on NBC from September 27, 1986, to May 11, 1991: five seasons and 110 episodes. Davis played Reverend Reuben Gregory, the young pastor of First Community Church, opposite Sherman Hemsley’s Deacon Ernest Frye. His character eventually married Thelma, played by Anna Maria Horsford, in season four.
It was a real-life fit. Davis served as associate pastor at the Loma Linda University church from 1987 to 1989, co-founded the Welcome Christian Center in Huntington Beach, California, and became a licensed minister at St. Luke Baptist Church in New York, according to Wikipedia. He released a gospel album, Say Amen, on Benson Records in 1991.
CelebrityNetworth says he stepped back from entertainment for several years after a spiritual awakening in the early 1980s. Prabook also lists him as a host of the Gospel Superfest from 2000 to 2008 and a frequent guest host on Trinity Broadcasting Network.
The Second Act: Aladdin, Madam Secretary and Beyond
Davis’s later career is arguably as impressive as his first, and it matters for any Clifton Davis net worth estimate because it added two decades of steady paychecks. He originated the Sultan in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway in 2014, a role he held until February 2018, according to Playbill. His full list of stage credits is on IBDB’s profile of Clifton Davis. IBDB also lists him as Doctor Dillamond in Wicked from May 2022 to March 2023.
On television he played Ephraim Ware, the Director of National Intelligence, on CBS’s Madam Secretary from season two through season six, roughly 42 episodes in all. Later credits include Elijah Muhammad in Godfather of Harlem (2019 to 2021) and basketball great Elgin Baylor in FX’s Clipped in 2024.
In October 2024, CBS announced he had joined Beyond the Gates as Vernon Dupree, the head of the Dupree family. The soap premiered in February 2025, and season two began on January 2, 2026. For a man who debuted on Broadway in 1964, it is a remarkable stretch.
Clifton Davis Net Worth in 2026
Clifton Davis’s net worth is estimated at about $3 million in 2026, with a plausible range of roughly $1.3 million to $5.4 million. This is an estimate, not a confirmed figure.
The three competitor pages that put a number on Clifton Davis net worth, CelebrityNetworth, TheRichest and Taddlr, all say $3 million, and CelebrityNetworth updated its page on October 1, 2026. None of them explain how they got there, and none give a range. Davis has never disclosed his assets, so any number is a reasoned guess.
Here is how we built our Clifton Davis net worth estimate. The method is simple: estimate what each major stream could have paid in total, add them up, then subtract a large share for taxes, commissions, living costs and divorce over a 60-year career. All pay figures below are our assumptions, not reported salaries.
| Income stream | Our assumption | Conservative | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amen (110 episodes) | $15K to $40K per episode | $1.65M | $4.4M |
| Madam Secretary (about 42 episodes) | $8K to $20K per episode | $0.34M | $0.84M |
| Aladdin on Broadway (about 175 working weeks, 2014 to 2018) | $3K to $6K per week | $0.53M | $1.05M |
| Songwriting royalties | $15K to $60K per year over about 50 years | $0.75M | $3.0M |
| Everything else (other TV, film, Beyond the Gates, hosting, speaking) | Lump sum | $0.5M | $1.5M |
| Estimated lifetime gross | about $3.8M | about $10.8M |
Next comes retention, the share of lifetime earnings someone actually keeps. We assume 35% in the conservative case, about 42% in the middle and 50% in the high case. That gives roughly $1.3 million, $3.1 million and $5.4 million.
The middle result lands almost exactly on the $3 million that other sites print, which is reassuring but not proof, so treat Clifton Davis net worth as a range. If his royalties are larger than we assumed, or he invested well, he could be higher. If he spent heavily on ministry work, travel and family, he could be lower.
Why do estimates of Clifton Davis net worth diverge? Because the biggest variable, songwriting royalties, is private. Davis holds the songwriter’s share only, which is usually split with a publisher, and the figure depends on contracts nobody has published. Another working actor whose pay is private is Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and the same caution applies to his estimate.
One more caution. A stock-tracking page for a “Clifton Todd Davis,” a vice president at Franklin Covey, circulates in search results for this name. We found nothing connecting that person to the actor, so we did not use it.
Clifton Davis Net Worth: Income Sources
Clifton Davis net worth comes from several overlapping streams that have built up over six decades.
Television acting. Amen is almost certainly his biggest single paycheck, since he was a series lead for five seasons and 110 episodes. That’s My Mama, Madam Secretary and now Beyond the Gates add to that. Series regulars are paid per episode, and long-running shows keep paying through repeats and syndication in some cases. Amounts vary widely by contract. Another sitcom veteran, Michael Gross of Family Ties, is a useful comparison for how long a television career can run.
Songwriting royalties. A songwriter earns money whenever a song is sold, streamed, played on radio or performed publicly. “Never Can Say Goodbye” was a No. 2 hit and has been recorded by Isaac Hayes, Gloria Gaynor and The Communards, among others. That makes it the kind of catalog asset that can quietly pay for decades, though its size is unknown.
Broadway and stage. His longest recent stage run was as the Sultan in Aladdin, from 2014 to early 2018. Weekly pay for a featured Broadway role is far below a TV series fee, but a multi-year run adds up. His Wicked stint from 2022 to 2023 added a smaller piece.
Hosting, speaking and ministry-related work. Prabook lists him as a host of the Gospel Superfest and a guest host on TBN, and CelebrityNetworth says he hosted TBN’s Praise the Lord for more than two decades, which we could not confirm independently. Speaking and ministry work may bring modest income, but much of it is likely mission-driven rather than lucrative.
Albums. His 1991 gospel album Say Amen is listed as his only studio recording, so music sales are a small piece beside his songwriting credits.
Clifton Davis Net Worth Comparison
How does Davis stack up against peers from his shows and his generation? The figures below are CelebrityNetworth estimates unless noted, and they use different methods and dates, so treat them as rough context, not a ranking.
| Person | Connection to Davis | Estimated net worth |
|---|---|---|
| Clifton Davis | The subject | About $3 million (our range: $1.3M to $5.4M) |
| Tim Daly | Madam Secretary co-star | $4 million |
| Gloria Gaynor | Recorded “Never Can Say Goodbye” | $10 million |
| Anna Maria Horsford | Amen co-star | $500 thousand (page last dated around 2015) |
| Sherman Hemsley | Amen co-star | $300 thousand at his death in 2012 |
Two things stand out in the Clifton Davis net worth comparison. First, if CelebrityNetworth’s figures are right, a successful sitcom run did not make Davis’s Amen co-stars wealthy. Second, Davis sits well above his Amen co-stars, which is plausible given his songwriting income, though it is not proven.
For a different benchmark, Vanessa Williams moved between Broadway, television and music in a similar way, and our own base estimate for her is around $20 million.
Personal Life
Davis’s personal life has stayed far from the tabloids, and it has no obvious effect on Clifton Davis net worth. He married Ann Taylor in 1981, and the couple had two children. The marriage ended in divorce. Wikipedia gives 1991 as the end year, while Prabook lists 1994, so sources disagree. We have not included the children’s names because sources conflict.
He married Monica Durant in May 2000. Their marriage has lasted more than two decades. In a video for the show’s Instagram account, reported by Parade in January 2026, he joked about being careful during a romantic scene because he is a married man.
CelebrityNetworth describes him as an avid golfer and a licensed pilot. We could not find a second source for those details, so treat them as reported rather than confirmed.
Lifestyle and Public Image
Faith runs through much of Davis’s work, and he has kept his private life largely private. In the sources we reviewed, we found no widely reported spending sprees, large real estate purchases or lawsuits. That is one reason his net worth is hard to pin down.
He still works, and that keeps Clifton Davis net worth growing rather than static. At 81, he is a series regular on a daily CBS soap. Another long-working screen actor is Bruce Greenwood, who is a useful point of comparison.
His public image blends several worlds. To soap viewers he is Vernon Dupree. To classic-TV fans he is Rev. Gregory. To pop-music fans he is the man behind a song Michael Jackson made famous at age 12. Few entertainers carry three legacies at once, and that mix is why Clifton Davis net worth is hard to pin down.
People Also Ask
What is Clifton Davis net worth in 2026?
Clifton Davis net worth is estimated at about $3 million in 2026, with a plausible range of $1.3 million to $5.4 million. It is an estimate, because he has never disclosed his finances.
How old is Clifton Davis?
He is 81. Wikipedia, IBDB and Playbill all give his birth date as October 4, 1945, in Chicago. One site lists April 10, 1945, but it conflicts with the other sources.
Did Clifton Davis write “Never Can Say Goodbye”?
Yes. He wrote it, and the Jackson 5 released it in March 1971. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart.
Who is Clifton Davis married to, and does it affect Clifton Davis net worth?
He has been married to Monica Durant since May 2000. He was previously married to Ann Taylor, beginning in 1981, and had two children with her.
What happened to Clifton Davis after Amen?
He kept working. He released the gospel album Say Amen in 1991, spent years in ministry and gospel hosting, then returned to Broadway in Aladdin and Wicked and to television in Madam Secretary.
Is Clifton Davis a real minister?
Yes. Wikipedia lists him as a licensed minister at St. Luke Baptist Church in New York and a former associate pastor at the Loma Linda University church. Some sites say “ordained,” which Wikipedia does not confirm.
Who does Clifton Davis play on Beyond the Gates?
He plays Vernon Dupree, the patriarch of the Dupree family, married to Anita, who is played by Tamara Tunie. The CBS soap premiered in February 2025.
Was Clifton Davis in Madam Secretary?
Yes. He played Ephraim Ware, the Director of National Intelligence, from season two through season six of the CBS drama.
Does Clifton Davis net worth include Tony Award money?
Tony nominations do not come with prize money. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical in 1972 for Two Gentlemen of Verona, and IBDB lists no Tony win. It does list a 1971 Theatre World Award.
How did Clifton Davis net worth build up?
Mainly through steady television work, especially Amen, plus Broadway runs and royalties from the songs he wrote. How much each stream contributed is not public, so our breakdown is an estimate.
Is Clifton Davis the same person as Clifton Todd Davis of Franklin Covey?
We found nothing linking them. The actor’s full name is listed on CelebrityNetworth as Clifton Duncan Davis, and the Franklin Covey insider listing is a separate stock-tracking entry.
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