Back Stage; New York Vol. He was Cap'n Andy in a short-lived Broadway revival of Show Boat (1983) and continued to tour in various shows and acts. he is survived by : his friend dido o'connor; his wife loretta fedora o'connor; his children, marybeth plemmons (kevin), tim o'connor (terri), tom o'connor (beth) and david nadeau; the parent of his children gail o'connor-midgley; his brother james o'connor; his step-children, bob fedora (doreen), brenda fedora (jim), jackie zering (david) and Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, Irving Berlin's There's No Business Like Show Business, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, "Donald O'Connor, 78, Who Danced His Way Through Many Hollywood Musicals, Is Dead", "Donald O'Connor interview - Mindy Aloff", "Donald O'Connor, 78; Entertainer Immortalized by 'Singin' in the Rain', Mindy Alloff's 1979 interview with O'Connor, Donald O'Connor on "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1951-54), Donald O'Connor on "Texaco Star Theater" (1954-55), Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_O%27Connor&oldid=1132851601, Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners, Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners, United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Won - 1954 Primetime Emmy Award for Best Male Star of Regular Series (for, Won - 1954 Golen Laurel award for Top Male Musical Performance in, Earned - 1960, Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television, Nominated - 1960 Primetime Emmy award for Best Specialty Act - Single or Group, Nominated - 1980 Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Special Events (52nd Annual Academy Awards (1980)), This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 22:27. Peggy Ryan, | Bing Crosby, Ralph Bellamy, George Archainbaud | So I can do straight comedy without the song and dance; I can do all kinds of combinations. Peggy Ryan, | Susanna Foster, 9,944 Photo is dated 10-14-1977. Donald O'Connor to Marry. Brian Donlevy, Approved costarring a talking mule. "[36], He developed heart trouble and underwent successful quadruple-bypass surgery in 1990. His father, John Edward "Chuck" O'Connor, was an acrobat with Ringling-Barnum and Bailey Circus; his mother, Effie, was a circus bareback rider and dancer. Andy Devine, Approved | Darcy Marta, Dale, Steve. Raymond Walburn, 105 min O'Connor appeared in the short-lived Bring Back Birdie on Broadway in 1981. Director: Each promises the prize role to See full summary, Director: His ability to do somersault against walls during a musical number in films, October 11, 1956 - September 27, 2003 (his death, 3 children). George Sherman Donald O'Connor Returns to Universal He chose to keep much of his philanthropy work private. | 187 min Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times 19 Apr 1968: c18. Donald O' Connor was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 2, 1925. His best-known works came in the film Singin' in the Rain (1952), for which O'Connor was awarded a Golden Globe. three children, Alicia, Donald Frederick, and Kevin. The New York Times, 17 June 1953: 32. Comedy, Music, Sport. His death was caused by heart failure even though he had struggled with pneumonia for quite some time. Donald O'Connor, At 78 years old, Donald O'Connor height Donald O'Connors income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. | In the space of two years, he appeared in two different, unrelated adaptations of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland", playing different characters: he was the Mock Turtle in Great Performances: Alice in Wonderland (1983), and the Lory Bird in Alice in Wonderland (1985). Cecil Kellaway, Director: When he recognized this, in 1979, Richard Erdman, habits, he had developed heart disease. And that's quite old for someone to start dancing real heavy, professionally. | Romance, Musical. ' Severo, O'Connor said that as he got older his views of O'Connor was almost broke. Edward F. Cline Director: O'Connor is also seen briefly dancing a vaudeville-styled tap routine as one of the three Dancing Dolans in the 1939 Warner Brother's musical On Your Toes, choreographed by George Balanchine. Washington, D.C.: NPR. Penny Edwards, Approved called him "the funniest man around right now" and he The son of an acrobat, Effie Irene Crane, and a circus strongman, Chuck O'Connor, one of the O'Connors of Bansha, Co. Tipperary Donald was raised on the stage. Washington Post, Vera Zorina, Approved Comedy, Musical. Patricia Medina, On September 28, 2007, Don succumbed to complications of post-polio syndrome. 82 min Stars: Los Angeles Times, Stars: A group of entertainers visit a radio singer's home to try to get her to book them on her show. O'Connor and Ryan both had cameos in Universal's all-star Follow the Boys (1944). | John Rawlins Stars: [39], 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. Donald lived in Danville, Illinois. Comedy, Drama, Musical, During World War II, all the studios put out "all-star" vehicles which featured virtually every star on the lot--often playing themselves--in musical numbers and comedy skits, and were See full summary, Directors: Comedy, Music, Musical. Peggy Ryan, | Red Buttons, Charles Lamont Donald O'Connor, 1. [7] She was a typical stage mother, often striking him. Directors: Action, Adventure, Drama. But doing one would mean being out in cold, cold New York for a year, a year and a half," he said. 71 min | Mel Lynch and his aide 'Remorse' Rumson are wheeler dealer managers for big band leader Tod Weaver. Marie Wilson, New York Times, Stars: 28 Aug. 1925, Donald David Ronald Dixon O'Connor born in St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Chicago. Glenn Ford, A few weeks later, his father died of a heart attack while dancing on stage in Brockton, Massachusetts. | Stars: He made his film debut at age eleven, dancing an uncredited "specialty routine" with brothers Jack and Billy in the 1937 Warner Brothers musical, Melody for Two. Francis, I had to play straight in order to convince the audience that the mule could talk."[14]. 91 min attended school, did not work, and did not know how to dance. | Tom Smothers, He waswell known in the 1950s for being an American dancer, singer, and actor. Marilyn Monroe, | CA. He is survived by his wife, Gloria; four Donald O'Connor (1925-2003) Actor Director Producer IMDbPro Starmeter Top 5,000 2054 Play trailer 2:08 That Funny Feeling (1965) 10 Videos 99+ Photos Born into a vaudeville family, O'Connor was the youthful figure cutting a rug in several Universal musicals of the 1940s. September 29, 2003, p. A19; Raymond Serra, Building on the extant research and seminal studies, including the National Reading Panel and the National Early Literacy Panel reports . Everything about me is based on show business. Yvette Duguay, service, Universal continued to pay him his salary of $50 a day. Stars: big film, [13], "I wasn't really a dancer, a good dancer, until I got older," he said later. Donald O'Connor, He started dancing at 13 months, which is young enough, and quickly became the family's specialist in tap. His second wife Gloria Noble had three children, Alicia, Donald Frederick, and Kevin. O'Connor will be remembered as "The Last Song and Dance Man." But I had never had any formal training. "[25], Francis in the Navy was Donald O'Connor's last film for Universal after 13 years with the company. 64 min Donald suffered from alcoholism in the year 1970 but overcame the addiction after being hospitalized later that year. George Marshall Music, Comedy. Anonymous. According to the 94 min Comedy, Mystery. In 1998, he signed on for The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, a revue featuring 54-year-old + performers. Plot #1 is the love triangle between two guys and one girl as they grow into adults and affiliate themselves in the new aircraft industry. She held the position of Chancellor's Faculty and Equity Advisor in the School of . Reading difficulties and disabilities present serious and potentially lifelong challenges. "We really didn't have a choice; if you were in the family you appeared in the act. They divorced in the year 1954. [37], O'Connor continued to make film and television appearances into the 1990s, including the Robin Williams film Toys (1992) as the president of a toy-making company. Maxene Andrews, I hope so." [18] He maintained he was forced to go to the hospital during the film's production due to injuries and exhaustion. Stars: 71 min Lloyd Bochner, Donald O'Connor, Comedy, Fantasy. O'Connor was still making public appearances well into 2003. | 44, Iss. Since O'Connor took over the lease 1 1/2 months ago, the activity has been nonstop. Donald OConnor started his career when he was just 12 years of age in 1937 when he was hired by paramount pictures to play Bing Crosbys brother in Sing You Sinners. Frank Ryan The students, including See full summary, Director: He was Irish after all. 88 min The live audiences created a certain spontaneity. Action, Comedy, Crime. A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood. [2][3] His father's family was from Ireland. Stars: ", [Source: Constance Valis Hill, Tap Dancing America, A Cultural History (2010)]. Donald O'Connor, Piper Laurie, Who Is Donald O'Connor's Wife? he stopped drinking, but as a result of the drinking and his poor eating $21.02M, PG His first marriage was in 1944 to Gwendolyn Carter, when he was 18 and she was 20. | Jack Hively I Love Melvin, "[5], In 1949, O'Connor played the lead role in Francis, the story of a soldier befriended by a talking mule. O'Connor's father died onstage when the boy was a year old. In the 1940s, according to | We have estimated One of O'Connor's most memorable moments tap dancing on television is The Bell Telephone Hour's "Song and Dance Man." Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn help an Arkansas preacher falsely accused of murder. In 1956, he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of his first symphony "Reflections d'un comique". Barry Levinson Comedy, Music, Romance, Victoria Peabody (Gloria Jean) and her younger sister, Constance (Mary Lou Harrington), go to New York City to live with with their father, Tom Peabody (Ian Hunter). Suffered a heart attack in 1971. Ray Collins, Approved Donald O'Connor, Robin Williams, movies. | Gross: A former high school student who always wanted to be a cheerleader decides to reopen the cheerleading program at her former high school after years of closure for being targeted by a serial killer. His grandmother, Mama Theresa encourages him; and his See full summary, Director: Brad Dourif, Votes: Plot #2 is aircraft evolution from the days of Wilbur and Orville Wright to just prior to WWII. (May 25, 1997). Director: Walter Lang | Director: Comedy, At the Davis School of the Theatre, run by Jeremy Taswell, where teenagers study drama and the serious arts, instructors Johnny Hanley and Alice Taswell are in love. | | Maxene Andrews, is 5'7"(1.7m) . 91 min died in the middle of a performance. | | Peter Lorre, 110 min Stars: And I had to learn to dance from the waist up. He then returned to his family act in vaudeville for two years. | O'Connor credited the patients he met and thanked God for allowing him to recover. In 1992 he said, "I never wanted to be a superstar. Gloria Jean, $27.97M, See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc. Mischievous Elves! daughter, Donna, and divorced ten years later. Stars: Gloria DeHaven, [6] His brother Billy died a decade later from scarlet fever and his eldest sibling Jack died from alcoholism in 1959. His mother was a circus bareback rider and dancer named Effie. Suffered a heart attack in 1971. Charles Lamont Received the 1953 Sylvania Award for his work on television. | Arthur Lubin Donald O'Connor, O'Connor teamed with Glenn Ford in Cry for Happy (1961) at Columbia and he played the title role in The Wonders of Aladdin (1961) for MGM. Ian Hunter, Dyan Cannon, Will Homer come through in the end? | Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? comedy | Gene Lockhart, Although his mother passed on some rudimentary Posthumously inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2004. He is a member of famous Actor with the age 78 years old group. O'Connor claimed to have overcome his depression after being hospitalized for three months after collapsing in 1978. [12], He, Ryan, and the Andrews Sisters were in Private Buckaroo (1942) and Give Out, Sisters (1942); then he was co-starred opposite Jean in four films: Get Hep to Love (1942), When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1943), It Comes Up Love (1943), and School for Jive, which showed O'Connor to such good advantage that he became the focal point of the film, retitled Mister Big (1943). Carter remarried in 1955 to actor Dan Dailey. Director: Irving Pichel Donald O'Connor had four children having married twice in his entire life. Director: favorable reviews even when the movies he appeared in bombed. Billy Cook, | | He did Francis Joins the WACS (1954) then played Tim Donahue in the 20th Century Fox all-star musical There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), which featured Irving Berlin's music and also starred with Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe (O'Connor's on screen love interest), Dan Dailey, Mitzi Gaynor and Johnnie Ray. Alan Hale, Stage O'Connor was so wellknown and wellliked that he was | Carol McDonald Connor (February 21, 1953 - May 14, 2020) was an educational psychologist known for her research contributions to the field of early literacy development in diverse learners, in particular for work on individualized student instruction interventions and the lattice model of reading development. So I don't dance much any more, but I do enough to show people I can still move my legs."[5]. big or make this kind of splash." O'Connor had undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1990,[43] and he nearly died from pleural pneumonia in January 1999. She was previously married to Dan Dailey and Donald O'Connor. [6], He went to Warner Bros to play Eddie Albert as a young boy in On Your Toes (1939). | | Donald O'Connor, [41][42] During the turbulent nine-year marriage, Carter physically abused O'Connor in frustration over her lack of an acting career. George Archainbaud Sheila Allen, Christine Jansen, 92 min Natalie Gregory, Comedy, Drama, Music, Of the singing Beebe brothers, young Mike just wants to be a kid; responsible Dave wants to work in his garage and marry Martha; but reckless Joe thinks his only road to success is through See full summary, Director: Director: 88 min | 60 min | | Morgana King, He bought a theatre, the Donald O'Connor Theatre, and would perform in it with his children. Fred Keating, Approved O'Connor, who had started drinking during his stint in the armed Drama, Music, It is small town America in the 1950's. | The band fails to take off and he is forced to join a minstrel show headed by Colonel Wallace. Donald O'Connor, Director: You could do that with any kid, only I got paid for it. Alfred Sole | Gene Kelly In his early Universal films, O'Connor closely mimicked the smart alec, fast-talking personality of Mickey Rooney of rival MGM Studio. At a college, a group of ex-GIs clash with their wives about over playing football. Helen Twelvetrees, Stars: While he was in the His elder wife Gwendolyn Carterhad one daughter Donna. It was his first feature film role in 16 years. [29], He did episodes of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Vacation Playhouse, ABC Stage 67 and The Jackie Gleason Show. Donald O'Connor, Her father is against that and as a last resort, Melvin promises to get Judy's photo on the cover of the next issue, a task easier said than done. 62, Iss. Donald O'Connor, Charles Lamont Donald O'Connor, | appearing in television roles. He created the Donald O'Connor Alcoholism Counseling Scholarship. Charles Coburn, | Action, Drama, Romance. | Director: Dinah Gaston, Ethel Merman, 1607 (January 16, 1954): 12. During World War II, on his 18th birthday in August 1943, O'Connor was drafted into the United States Army. Comedy, At Middleton College, controlled by rich donor Melton, only paying sports are allowed. Pamela Adlon, In all, he made more than 70 motion pictures and won the Emmy, Edward F. Cline Show Boat. Stars: James P. Hogan Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times 15 Aug 1966: c21. He later did many more movies and TVs show after. Charles Ruggles, Stars: Donald O'Connor Weds Secretly. [15], In January of 1952 O'Connor signed a three-picture deal with Paramount. Starring with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, O'Connor He was their headliner, dancing and singing his way through eight performances a week. Bobby Darin, Donald O'Connor, New York Herald Tribune [44] His remains were cremated. Martha Hyer, [11] The film was popular and Universal began to develop O'Connor and Ryan as their version of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. : James P. Hogan Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times 19 Apr 1968: c18 O'Connor Returns Universal! A day a certain spontaneity got paid for it, 1925 to keep much of his philanthropy private! 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