DONALD O'CONNOR BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Donald O'Connor was born on August 28th, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois with the birth name, Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor, born to John Edward 'Chuck' and Effie O'Connor. He was born into a family already involved in the entertainment business as vaudeville performers.
Her performed with his parents and siblings for a number of years and by the age of twelve was also working as a film actor appearing in, "Melody for Two" (1937) starring James Melton, Patricia Ellis, Marie Wilson and Fred Keating, "Sing, You Sinners" (1938) starring Bing Crosby, Fred MacMurray, Ellen Drew, Elizabeth Patterson and Irving Bacon and "Beau Geste" (1939) starring Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward, Broderick Crawford, James Stephenson, Albert Dekker, J. Carrol Naish, Stanley Andrews and Brian Donlevy.
As his career progressed he added a number of film roles to his resume with his most well known role in, "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) alongside Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charisse, Kathleen Freeman, Douglas Fowley and Rita Moreno. This role earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
Other prominent film roles included, "Private Buckaroo" (1942) starring The Andrews Sisters, Dick Foran, Harry James, Shemp Howard, Joe E. Lewis, Huntz Hall, Eddie Acuff, Pat Flaherty, Addison Richards and Jennifer Holt, "Mister Big" (1943) co-starring Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, Robert Paige, Florence Bates, Samuel S. Hinds and Elyse Knox, "Call Me Madam" (1953) also starring Ethel Merman, Vera-Ellen, Billy DeWolfe, George Sanders, Ludwig Stössel and Walter Slezak, "I Love Melvin" (1953) with Debbie Reynolds, Robert Taylor, Una Merkel, Richard Anderson, Allyn Joslyn, Les Tremayne, Noreen Corcoran and Jim Backus, "The Buster Keaton Story" (1957) starring alongside Rhonda Fleming, Jackie Coogan, Richard Anderson, Ann Blyth, Larry Keating and Peter Lorre, "Cry for Happy" (1961) with Glenn Ford, Joe Flynn, Howard St. John, Miiko Taka, James Shigeta and Miyoshi Umeki, "That Funny Feeling" (1965) co-starring starring Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, Nita Talbot, Larry Storch, Leo G. Carroll and James Westerfield, "Rag Time" (1981) featuring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Daniels, Fran Drescher, John Ratzenberger, Moses Gunn, Elizabeth McGovern, Jack Nicholson, Debbie Allen, Brad Dourif, Kenneth McMillan, Mandy Patinkin, Howard E. Rollins Jr. and Mary Steenburgen, "A Time to Remember" (1987) with Morgana King and Raymond Serra and his final film role was in 1997 in, "Out to Sea" a romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Rue McClanahan, Dyan Cannon, Brent Spiner, Gloria DeHaven, Elaine Stritch, Edward Mulhare and Hal Linden.
O'Connor also appeared on television on such shows as, " Colgate Comedy Hour " which aired on NBC and he was the regular host for a number of years. Other television credits included, "Playhouse 90", "Vacation Playhouse", "The Bionic Woman", "Police Story", "Hunter", "Fantasy Island", "Hotel", "Highway to Heaven", "Murder, She Wrote", "Petticoat Junction", "Tales from the Crypt" and "The Nanny".
In addition to his film acting, in 1998 he became a member of The Palm Spring Follies as the headliner. For the majority of his career, he worked with Universal Pictures and upon his departure from them, his career began to slow down drastically.
Donald O'Connor married twice throughout his lifetime, first to Gwen Carter in 1944 and they had one child together before the marriage came to an end in 1954. He then married Gloria Noble in 1956 and they had three children together and remained married until he passed away at the age of seventy eight, on September 27th, 2003 in Calabasas, California after suffering from heart failure. His remains were cremated and buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography
1997 Out to Sea
1996 The Nanny
1996 Frasier
1996 Father Frost
1994 Bandit: Bandit's Silver Angel
1993 The Building
1992 Toys
1992 Tales from the Crypt
1990 Murder, She Wrote
1987 A Mouse, a Mystery and Me
1987 Highway to Heaven
1987 A Time to Remember
1981-1986 The Love Boat
1985 Alice in Wonderland
1983 Hotel
1983 Great Performances
1983 Simon & Simon
1982 Pandemonium
1982 Fantasy Island
1982 The Littlest Hobo
1981 Ragtime
1977 Hunter
1976 Police Story
1976 The Bionic Woman
1975 Ellery Queen
1974 The Girl with Something Extra
1971 Li'l Abner
1969 The Jackie Gleason Show
1968 The Donald O'Connor Show
1966 ABC Stage 67
1966 Vacation Playhouse
1966 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1965 That Funny Feeling
1961 Le meraviglie di Aladino
1961 Cry for Happy
1958 The DuPont Show of the Month
1957 Playhouse 90
1957 The Buster Keaton Story
1956 Anything Goes
1955 Francis in the Navy
1954 There's No Business Like Show Business
1954 Francis Joins the WACS
1953 Walking My Baby Back Home
1953 Francis Covers the Big Town
1953 Call Me Madam
1953 I Love Melvin
1952 Francis Goes to West Point
1952 Singin' in the Rain
1951 Francis Goes to the Races
1951 Double Crossbones
1950 All Star Revue
1950 The Milkman
1950 Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
1950 Francis
1949 Yes Sir, That's My Baby
1948 Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
1948 Are You with It?
1947 Something in the Wind
1945 Patrick the Great
1944 Bowery to Broadway
1944 The Merry Monahans
1944 This Is the Life
1944 Chip Off the Old Block
1943 Top Man
1943 Mister Big
1943 It Comes Up Love
1942 When Johnny Comes Marching Home
1942 Get Hep to Love
1942 Give Out, Sisters
1942 Private Buckaroo
1942 What's Cookin'?
1939 On Your Toes
1939 Death of a Champion
1939 Night Work
1939 Beau Geste
1939 Million Dollar Legs
1939 Unmarried
1939 Boy Trouble
1938 Tom Sawyer, Detective
1938 Sons of the Legion
1938 Sing, You Sinners
1938 Men with Wings
1937 It Can't Last Forever
1937 Melody for Two
