Donald O'Connor
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| Donald O'Connor | |
|---|---|
 in I Love Melvin |
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| Born | Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor )August 28, 1925 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | September 27, 2003) (aged 78) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart failure |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery |
| Occupation | Dancer, singer, actor |
| Years active | 1937–1999 |
| Spouse(s) | Gwen Carter (m.1944–1954; divorced) Gloria Noble (m.1956–2003; his death) |
| Children | 4 |
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. He is best known today for his role as Gene Kelly's friend and colleague Cosmo Brown in Singin' in the Rain (1952).
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Early years
Though he considered Danville, Illinois to be his home town, O’Connor was born in St. Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago. His parents, Effie Irene (née Crane) and John Edward "Chuck" O'Connor, were vaudeville entertainers.[1][2] His father's family was from County Cork, Ireland.[3] When O'Connor was only a few years old, he and his sister Arlene were in a car crash outside a theater in Hartford, Connecticut; O'Connor survived, but his sister was killed. Several weeks later, his father died of a heart attack while dancing on stage in Brockton, Massachusetts.[4] O'Connor at the time was being held in the arms of the theater manager, Mr. Maurice Sims.
Career
O'Connor began performing in movies in 1937. He appeared opposite Bing Crosby in Sing, You Sinners at age 12. Paramount Pictures used him in both A and B films, including Tom Sawyer, Detective and Beau Geste.[4] In 1940, when he had outgrown child roles, he returned to vaudeville.
In 1942, O'Connor joined Universal Pictures where he played roles in four of the Gloria Jean musicals, and achieved stardom with Mister Big (1943).
In 1944, O'Connor was drafted into the Army. Before he reported for induction, Universal Pictures rushed him through production of three feature films simultaneously and released them when he was overseas. After his discharge, Universal (now reorganized as Universal-International) cast him in lightweight musicals and comedies.
In 1949, he played the lead role in Francis, the story of a soldier befriended by a talking mule. The film was a huge success. As a consequence, his musical career was constantly interrupted by production of one Francis film per year until 1955. It was because of the Francis series that O'Connor missed playing Bing Crosby's partner in White Christmas. O'Connor was unavailable because he contracted an illness transmitted by the mule, and was replaced in the film by Danny Kaye.
O'Connor's role as Cosmo the piano player in Singin' in the Rain earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical. The film featured his memorable rendition of Make 'Em Laugh.
O'Connor was a regular host of NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour.[4] He hosted a color television special on NBC in 1957, one of the earliest color programs to be preserved on a color kinescope; an excerpt of the telecast was included in NBC's 50th anniversary special in 1976. In 1954, he starred in his own television series, The Donald O'Connor Show on NBC. In 1968, O'Connor hosted a syndicated talk show also called The Donald O'Connor Show.[5]
O'Connor overcame alcoholism after being hospitalized in 1978.[4] His career had a boost when he hosted the Academy Awards, which earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations. He appeared as a gaslight-era entertainer in the 1981 film Ragtime, notable for similar encore performances by James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. It was his first feature film role in 16 years.
O'Connor appeared in the short-lived Bring Back Birdie on Broadway in 1981, and continued to make film and television appearances into the 1990s, including the Robin Williams film Toys as the president of a toy-making company. He had guest roles in 1996 in a pair of popular TV comedy series, The Nanny and Frasier.
In 1998, he received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars.[6]
O'Connor's last feature film was the Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau comedy Out to Sea, in which he played a dance host on a cruise ship. O’Connor was still making public appearances well into 2003.
Personal life
O'Connor was married twice and had four children. His first marriage was to Gwendolyn Carter in 1944 with whom he had a daughter, Donna. The couple divorced in 1954.[4]
He married for a second time, to Gloria Noble, in 1956. Together they had three children; Alicia, Donald Frederick and Kevin. O'Connor and Noble remained married until his death in 2003.[4]
Death
O'Connor nearly died from pneumonia in January 1998. He died from complications of heart failure on September 27, 2003 at age 78 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, in Woodland Hills, California.[7] His remains were cremated and buried at the Forest Lawn–Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
O'Connor was survived by his wife, Gloria, and four children.[4]
Filmography
Film
Television
- The Milton Berle Show (producer) – 1948
- Colgate Comedy Hour – 1951-54
- The Donald O'Connor Show – 19 episodes on NBC, 1954–55
- Petticoat Junction (director) – 1964
- Bell Telephone Hour – 1964-66
- The Donald O'Connor Show - 1968
- Ellery Queen – episode "The Comic Book Crusader" – October 2, 1975
- The Bionic Woman – episode "A Thing of the Past" (February 18, 1976)
- The Love Boat – 1981-84
- Alice – "Guinness on Tap", as himself, 1982
- The Littlest Hobo – episode "The Clown" as Freddie the Clown (1982)[8]
- Alice in Wonderland (1985 film) as The Lory Bird, 1985
- Murder She Wrote episode (The Big Show of 1965) 1990
- Tales from the Crypt - 1992
- Frasier – episode "Crane vs. Crane" as Harlow Safford, 1996
- The Nanny – episode "Freida Needa Man" as Fred (1996)
Stage Work
- Little Me (1964)
- Little Me (1968)
- Promises, Promises (1972)
- Where's Charley? (1976)
- Weekend with Feathers (1976)
- Sugar (1979)
- Wally's Cafe (1980)
- Bring Back Birdie (1981)
- Say Hello to Harvey (1981)
- Show Boat (1982)
- I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982)
- Show Boat (1983)
- How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1985)
- Two for the Show (1989)
- The Sunshine Boys (1990)
- The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies (1998)
References
- ^ "O'Connor, Donald David Dixon Ronald". Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. Encyclopedia.com. 2007. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ Frank Cullen; Florence Hackman and Donald McNeilly (8 October 2006). Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93853-8 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK].
- ^ Current Biography Yearbook, Vol. 16. H.W. Wilson Co. 1955. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g Richard Severo (29 September 2003). "Donald O'Connor, 78, Who Danced His Way Through Many Hollywood Musicals, Is Dead". The New York Times (NYTimes.com). Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ Alex McNeil, Total Television, p. 231
- ^ "Palm Spring Walk of Stars". PalmSprings.com. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ Welkos, Robert W. (2003-09-28). "Donald O'Connor, 78; Entertainer Immortalized by 'Singin' in the Rain'". latimes.com. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ^ "The Littlest Hobo: The Clown". IMDb. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
External links
- Donald O'Connor at the Internet Broadway Database
- Donald O'Connor at the Internet Movie Database
- Essay on Donald O'Connor
- Mindy Alloff's 1979 interview with O'Connor
- Donald O'Connor on "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1951-54) at Classic TV Info.
- Donald O'Connor on "Texaco Star Theater" (1954-55) at Classic TV Info.
- Film-shots
