Donald David Dixon
Among others (such as Roy Rogers, Ronald Reagan, and Audie Murphy), Donald O'Connor is one of my favorite actors! I love the characters he plays, the songs and dances he preforms, the black-and-white (and colored) movies in which he acted, and the zeal he had for what he was doing.
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He didn't start out in movies - rather he grew up doing vaudeville with his family.
He also had a hard life growing up. His sister was killed when she was just 10 months old and his father passed away just a few weeks later. Therefore, when Donald started acting as a child, he was his family's primary source of income.
Click the following link to see "Donnie" tapping dancing with the best of them at age 10:
>Film Debut
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He also had a hard life growing up. His sister was killed when she was just 10 months old and his father passed away just a few weeks later. Therefore, when Donald started acting as a child, he was his family's primary source of income.
Click the following link to see "Donnie" tapping dancing with the best of them at age 10:
>Film Debut
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In just his 3rd film, O'Connor played a brother to Bing Crosby and Fred MacMurrary in "Sing, You Sinngers" (1938) in which he matched Crosby's famous talent spectacularly.
"Small Fry"
Also in 1938, he played a touching, emotional role in "Sons of the Legion" ...
...and took on the role of the mischievous of Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer, Detective.
Paramount let him go after he quite grew out of child roles and he returned to vaudeville for a time. In 1942, O'Connor signed with Universal Pictures and did film-after-after, completing 12 movies between '42 and '44.
(Clip from "Top Man" 1942)
It is said that he "reached stardom" in the '43 musical "Mister Big" which also featured Peggy Ryan and Gloria Jean - one of several films that this trio starred in together.
This video (from "Mister Big") is called "Rude, Crude, and Unattractive" ... oh, and Peggy really doesn't kick Donald in the chin, though it does look like it :)
Peggy Ryan is hilarious, cute, and super talented - one of my favorite Donald O'Connor co-stars!
Donald and Peggy played "more-than-friends" in "Patrick The Great" and "This is the Life" as well as a brother-sister duo in "The Merry Monahans" and "Top Man".
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Donald was drafted into the Army in '44 and before he was discharged, Universal shot 3 O'Connor musicals simultaneously and released them sequentially while he was overseas.
Around the time he was drafted, Donald married his still-in-high-school sweetheart, Gwen Carter. He picked her up from school, drove across the border to Mexico, got married, and returned her to school the same day! She went to join him where he was stationed later. Together, they had a daughter (Donna) and were married for 10 years - divorced in '54.
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In the interim years between his Army discharge and his big comeback Donald played several colorful roles:
"Cousin Charlie" in "Something in the Wind" (1947);
Math genius Milton Haskins in "Are You With It?" (1948);
Kidnapped Wilbur McMurty in Feudin' Fussin' and A-Fightin' (also '48); this also features a favorite actor/actress pair of mine, Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride who play Ma and Pa Kettle in "Ma and Pa Kettle";
College football player and new father in "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (1949).
A 1950 film called "Francis" was the first Donald O'Connor movie I'd ever seen.
In this, he played Lt. Peter Sterling who talks to Francis ... the mule! His role in this picture, however, included no singing or tap dancing (for which he is most famous). Over the years Peter Sterling reunited with his mule friend in "Francis Goes to the Races" (1951),
"Francis Goes to West Point" (1952),
"Francis Covers The Big Town" (1953),
"Francis Joins The WACS" (1954),
and "Francis in the Navy" (1955).
O'Connor would have played the role of Phil Davis (in which role Danny Kaye was eventually cast) with Bing Crosby and opposite Vera Ellen in "White Christmas" (1954), except he caught something from the mule that played Francis and was quite sick for some time.
Seeing as how O'Connor would have been such a great match with both Vera Ellen and Bing Crosby, he was cast opposite Ellen in "Call Me Madam" (1953) ...
(The following number was performed as Donald's character realizes he had fallen in love with a princess)
.....and with Crosby in the 1956 musical "Anything Goes".
O'Connor and Ellen's dancing was as dynamic as his and Crosby's singing.
(Video: "Ya Gotta Give The People Hoke")
Another couple O'Connor musicals were released in the midst of all this, including:
"Curtain Call At Cactus Creek" (1950),
"The Milkman" (1950),
"Double Crossbones" (1951), (yes, that's him under all that red velvet, feathers, and lace!)
and "I Love Melvin" (1953).
In the following video, Donald performs "Where Did You Learn To Dance?" with Debbie Reynolds.
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Despite what seems like a busy filming schedule, Donald O'Connor had 2 of his best-known and biggest films during this time. These were "Singing in the Rain" and "There's No Business Like Show Business".
Donald costarred as Cosmo Brown in "Singing in the Rain" (1952) whose other feature performers were Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. Gene Kelly (another famous tap dancer) had personally requested O'Connor for the role of his costar, Cosmo Brown.
They made the most terrific threesome!
It was also in "Singing in the Rain" that Donald performed is most well-known routine ... the ultra-amazing, super-fantastic "Make 'Em Laugh".
This is number was the perfect show case for his boatload of talent - oh, and most of what he did during the song was improv; the part with the manikin was not rehearsed or planned at all!!!! Just watch and see why he needed 2 days to recover after performing this number.
Many consider "Make 'Em Laugh" one of the greatest routines of all time :)
"Singing in The Rain" became a classic with many well-known and much-loved songs,
including the high-speed, hilarious, athletic "Moses Supposes",
In just his 3rd film, O'Connor played a brother to Bing Crosby and Fred MacMurrary in "Sing, You Sinngers" (1938) in which he matched Crosby's famous talent spectacularly.
"Small Fry"
Also in 1938, he played a touching, emotional role in "Sons of the Legion" ...
...and took on the role of the mischievous of Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer, Detective.
Paramount let him go after he quite grew out of child roles and he returned to vaudeville for a time. In 1942, O'Connor signed with Universal Pictures and did film-after-after, completing 12 movies between '42 and '44.
(Clip from "Top Man" 1942)
This video (from "Mister Big") is called "Rude, Crude, and Unattractive" ... oh, and Peggy really doesn't kick Donald in the chin, though it does look like it :)
Donald and Peggy played "more-than-friends" in "Patrick The Great" and "This is the Life" as well as a brother-sister duo in "The Merry Monahans" and "Top Man".
~ ~ ~
Donald was drafted into the Army in '44 and before he was discharged, Universal shot 3 O'Connor musicals simultaneously and released them sequentially while he was overseas.
Around the time he was drafted, Donald married his still-in-high-school sweetheart, Gwen Carter. He picked her up from school, drove across the border to Mexico, got married, and returned her to school the same day! She went to join him where he was stationed later. Together, they had a daughter (Donna) and were married for 10 years - divorced in '54.
~ ~ ~
In the interim years between his Army discharge and his big comeback Donald played several colorful roles:
"Cousin Charlie" in "Something in the Wind" (1947);
In this, he played Lt. Peter Sterling who talks to Francis ... the mule! His role in this picture, however, included no singing or tap dancing (for which he is most famous). Over the years Peter Sterling reunited with his mule friend in "Francis Goes to the Races" (1951),
"Francis Goes to West Point" (1952),
"Francis Covers The Big Town" (1953),
"Francis Joins The WACS" (1954),
and "Francis in the Navy" (1955).
O'Connor would have played the role of Phil Davis (in which role Danny Kaye was eventually cast) with Bing Crosby and opposite Vera Ellen in "White Christmas" (1954), except he caught something from the mule that played Francis and was quite sick for some time.
Seeing as how O'Connor would have been such a great match with both Vera Ellen and Bing Crosby, he was cast opposite Ellen in "Call Me Madam" (1953) ...
.....and with Crosby in the 1956 musical "Anything Goes".
O'Connor and Ellen's dancing was as dynamic as his and Crosby's singing.
(Video: "Ya Gotta Give The People Hoke")
Another couple O'Connor musicals were released in the midst of all this, including:
"Curtain Call At Cactus Creek" (1950),
"The Milkman" (1950),
"Double Crossbones" (1951), (yes, that's him under all that red velvet, feathers, and lace!)
and "I Love Melvin" (1953).
In the following video, Donald performs "Where Did You Learn To Dance?" with Debbie Reynolds.
"Life Has Its Funny Little Ups and Downs" (he was a one-of-a-kind guy that could tap dance on roller skates!)
Despite what seems like a busy filming schedule, Donald O'Connor had 2 of his best-known and biggest films during this time. These were "Singing in the Rain" and "There's No Business Like Show Business".
Donald costarred as Cosmo Brown in "Singing in the Rain" (1952) whose other feature performers were Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. Gene Kelly (another famous tap dancer) had personally requested O'Connor for the role of his costar, Cosmo Brown.
They made the most terrific threesome!
It was also in "Singing in the Rain" that Donald performed is most well-known routine ... the ultra-amazing, super-fantastic "Make 'Em Laugh".
This is number was the perfect show case for his boatload of talent - oh, and most of what he did during the song was improv; the part with the manikin was not rehearsed or planned at all!!!! Just watch and see why he needed 2 days to recover after performing this number.
Many consider "Make 'Em Laugh" one of the greatest routines of all time :)
including the high-speed, hilarious, athletic "Moses Supposes",
the cheery, multi-linguistic "Good Mornin' ",
and of course the film's namesake song "Singin' in The Rain".
Donald won a Golden Globe for his performance in this movie!
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"There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954) boasted several big names as well; including, Marilyn Monroe, Ethel Merman, Dan Daily, Mitzi Gaynor and of course Donald O'Connor - not to mention Irving Berlin who composed the songs for the movie.
This film featured a song known as an O'Connor classic: "A Man Chases A Girl (Until She Catches Him)".
This next is the show's finale and namesake song "There's No Business Like Show Business". Donald O'Connor was the youngest son and brother in the singing Donahue family. The whole family is happy together in show business when his older brother enlists as an army priest, his sister marries, and Donald - the love interest of Monroe (who plays just another girl in show business)- runs off and joins the Navy after a falling out with his father. The father goes looking for him and has just returned as you see in this clip...
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Donald's next big picture was "The Buster Keaton Story" (1957). This movie was intended to be the biopic of silent film legend Buster Keaton (famous for his flat hat).
It is said, however, that the movie was more biographical of O'Connor's life than Keaton's. The film focuses quite a bit on Keaton's struggle with alcoholism which, incidentally, O'Connor was battling at that time as well.
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This video shows Donald preforming a stunning routine, following which he brings his daughter out for her television debut! What a cutie!
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Donald married Gloria Noble around this time, and they remained married through the end - despite a short separation... they separated when he became hospitalized due to his alcoholism, but she returned to him when he overcame the addiction.
Click the following links to the separate parts of a video biography of O'Connor's life that is very inclusive and informative about his life:
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When Donald O'Connor made his comeback, he did it as spectacularly and with as much gusto as his debut! He didn't make any more top-billed movies or musicals; his last big picture was "Out To Sea".
He did, however, make a name for himself on the stage - capturing the hearts of live audiences as he did the hearts of his TV audience many years earlier!
During his time on stage, he did a tour with long-time comedian Mickey Rooney - Rooney acted in the 7th Francis film, "Francis in the Haunted House".
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Donald O'Connor died of congestive heart disease in 2003 at the age of 78.
