Donald O'Connor Overview:

Legendary actor, Donald O'Connor, was born Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor on Aug 28, 1925 in Chicago, IL. O'Connor died at the age of 78 on Sep 27, 2003 in Calabasas, CA and was laid to rest in Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills) Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.

MINI BIO:

Cheerful, slimly-built, non-stop American dancing star and light comedian with a thick bush of brown hair. A child actor of the late 1930s (the offspring of a family vaudeville act), he blossomed in medium-budget musicals at Universal, and later proved a more-than-useful foil for Hollywood's leading musical lights. Was also for many years the master of Francis the talking mule, but his film career faded in the 1950s as musicals fell from fashion, and he embarked on a fresh career as a composer of light symphonic music.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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He was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the categories of Motion Pictures and Television. Donald O'Connor's handprints and footprints were 'set in stone' at Grauman's Chinese Theater during imprint ceremony #103 on Feb 25, 1953. O'Connor was never nominated for an Academy Award.

BlogHub Articles:

Seven Things to Know About

By Rick29 on Apr 20, 2020 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

1. Show business was in his blood. His father, John, worked as an acrobat, clown, trapeze artist, and strong man for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. His mother Effie was a circus bareback horse rider and dancer. When Donald was thirteen-months-old, he and his sister Arlene, who w... Read full article


, Making Us Laugh

By KC on Nov 21, 2009 From Classic Movies

Hey Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I appreciate your love for 's Make 'Em Laugh from Singin' In the Rain (1952). The great pleasure you took in performing it was the best part of your version on SNL, but I needed to watch this right after: Ah, much better.... Read full article


Remembering

By Caftan Woman on Aug 29, 2008 From Caftan Woman

1925 - 2003I have been reminded that we missed the opportunity to recall upon his August 28th birthday. Shame on us. I do hope that that doesn't mean that we have been neglecting to make room in the entertainment portions of our busy lives for the wonderfully talented, warm-hearted g... Read full article


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Donald O'Connor Quotes:

[after Cosmo's car breaks down]
Don Lockwood: Don't tell me, it's a flat tire.
Cosmo Brown: I can't undertand it. This car hasn't given me a lick of trouble in nearly 6 hours.


Cosmo Brown: Talking pictures, that means I'm out of a job. At last I can start suffering and write that symphony.
R.F. Simpson: You're not out of job, we're putting you in as head of our new music department.
Cosmo Brown: Oh, thanks, R.F.! At last I can stop suffering and write that symphony.


R.F. Simpson: Lina, you were gorgeous!
Cosmo Brown: Yeah, Lina, you looked pretty good for a girl.


read more quotes from Donald O'Connor...



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Grauman's Imprints

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Donald O'Connor on the
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Donald O'Connor Facts
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 (#12.2)" (1983), and the Lory Bird in Alice in Wonderland (1985) (TV).

Father of Donna Gwen O'Connor (b. August 10, 1946), Alicia O'Connor (b. September 20, 1957), Donald Frederick O'Connor (b. 1960), and Kevin O'Connor (b. 1961).

While he's hesitant to select a favorite film, he's quick to single out his favorite performance: "Call Me Madam (1953) - my favorite number is in there with Vera-Ellen. It's the number I do out in the garden with her to "It's a Lovely Day Today". It's a beautiful lyrical number. I think she was the best dancer outside of Peggy Ryan I ever danced with".

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