Donald O'Connor

Donald O'Connor
O'Connor in 1952
Born
Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor

(1925-08-28)August 28, 1925
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedSeptember 27, 2003(2003-09-27) (aged 78)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • singer
  • actor
Years active1932–1999
Spouses
Gwen Carter
​
​
(m. 1944; div. 1954)​
Gloria Noble
​
(m. 1956)​
Children4

Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred, in succession, with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule.

O'Connor was born into a vaudeville family, where he learned to dance, sing, play comedy, and perform slapstick. The most distinctive characteristic of his dancing style was its athleticism, for which he had few rivals. Yet it was his boyish charm that audiences found most engaging, and which remained an appealing aspect of his personality throughout his career. In his Universal musicals of the early 1940s, O'Connor was a wisecracking, fast-talking teenager, much like Mickey Rooney of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. But by 1952 and Singin' in the Rain, MGM had cultivated a much more sympathetic sidekick persona for him, and that remained O'Connor's signature image.

His best-known work was his "Make 'Em Laugh" dance routine in Singin' in the Rain (1952), for which O'Connor was awarded a Golden Globe. He also won a Primetime Emmy Award from four nominations and received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early years

O'Connor was born in 1925 to Vaudevillians Edward "Chuck" O'Connor and Effie Irene (née Crane) in Chicago, the 200th child born at St. Elizabeth Hospital there. Both the O'Connors struggled to remember where and when exactly Donald was born, due to the family's extensive travel.[1] Effie was a bareback rider and Chuck was a circus strongman and acrobat.[2][3] His father's family was from Ireland.[4]

O'Connor later said, "I was about 13 months old, they tell me, when I first started dancing, and they'd hold me up by the back of my neck and they'd start the music, and I'd dance. You could do that with any kid, only I got paid for it."[5]

When O'Connor was only two years old, he and his seven-year-old sister, Arlene, were hit by a car while crossing the street outside a theater in Hartford, Connecticut; Donald survived, but his sister died. A few weeks later, his father died of a heart attack while dancing on stage in Brockton, Massachusetts.[6]

O'Connor's mother was extremely possessive of her youngest son due to these traumas, not allowing him to cross the street on his own until he turned 13. Effie also stopped O'Connor from learning hazardous dance routines, and made sure she always knew where he was when he was not performing.[7]

Career

O'Connor Family

O'Connor joined a dance act with his mother and elder brother Jack. They were billed as the O'Connor Family, the Royal Family of Vaudeville. They toured the country doing singing, dancing, comedy, and acting. "Our entire family composed an act", he says. "We really didn't have a choice; if you were in the family you appeared in the act. I loved vaudeville. The live audiences created a certain spontaneity."[8]

When they were not touring they stayed with O'Connor's Uncle Bill in Danville, Illinois. O'Connor never went to school.[9]

He later said, "I learned two dance routines. I looked like the world's greatest dancer. I did triple wings and everything. But I had never had any formal training. So, when I went into movies and started working with all those great dancers, I had a terrible time. I couldn't pick up routines because I didn't have any formal training. At the age of 15 — from 15 on, I really had to learn to dance. And that's quite old for someone to start dancing real heavy, professionally."[5]

Contrasting the vaudevillian style of dance with that of ballet and musicals he observed, "All hoofers, they dance from the waist down. And I had to learn to dance from the waist up. And then, I became what's known as a total dancer."[5]

O'Connor began performing in movies in 1937, making his debut at age 11 in Melody for Two appearing with his family act. He was also in Columbia's It Can't Last Forever (1937).[9]

Paramount

O'Connor signed a contract at Paramount Studios. He appeared in Men with Wings (1938), directed by William Wellman, as Fred MacMurray's character as a boy. He was billed fifth in Sing You Sinners (1938) playing Bing Crosby's and MacMurray's younger brother.[10]

He was in Sons of the Legion (1938), then had the second lead in a B-picture, Tom Sawyer, Detective (1938), playing Huckleberry Finn opposite Billy Cook's Tom Sawyer. O'Connor third billed in both Boy Trouble (1939) and Unmarried (1939), playing John Hartley as a young boy in the latter.

O'Connor was billed fourth in Million Dollar Legs (1939) with Betty Grable. He played Gary Cooper as a young boy in Beau Geste (1939), directed by Wellman.

Night Work (1939) was a sequel to Boy Trouble and O'Connor was in Death of a Champion (1939).[6]

He went to Warner Bros to play Eddie Albert as a young boy in On Your Toes (1939). He then returned to his family act in vaudeville for two years.[9]

Universal

In 1941, O'Connor signed with Universal Pictures for $200 a week, where he began with What's Cookin'? (1942), a low-budget musical with The Andrews Sisters, the studio's teenage singing star Gloria Jean, and Peggy Ryan.[11] The film was popular and Universal began to develop O'Connor and Ryan as their version of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.[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). Universal added $50,000 to the budget and elevated the "B" movie to "A" status.[10]

O'Connor and Ryan were in Top Man (1943), with Susanna Foster, and Chip Off the Old Block (1944), with Ann Blyth. O'Connor and Ryan both had cameos in Universal's all-star Follow the Boys (1944).

During World War II, on his 18th birthday in August 1943, O'Connor was drafted into the United States Army. Before he reported for induction on February 6, 1944, Universal already had four O'Connor films completed. They rushed production to complete four more by that date,[citation needed] all with Ryan: This Is the Life (1944), with Foster; The Merry Monahans (1944), with Blyth and Jack Oakie; Bowery to Broadway (1945), another all-star effort where O'Connor had a cameo; and Patrick the Great (1945).

Return from war service

Finally, the studio paired O'Connor opposite their biggest female star, Deanna Durbin, in Something in the Wind (1947), and kept him busy in musical comedies: Are You with It? (1948) with Olga San Juan, Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1949) with Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride, and Yes Sir, That's My Baby (1949) with Gloria DeHaven.[13]

"I wasn't really a dancer, a good dancer, until I got older," he said later. "I could do those wings and stuff and I looked very good, but my heavens, it was very, very hard for me to pick up on — pick up steps. It was just oh — so laborious for me. I didn't have a short cut like the other dancers do."[5]

Francis

In 1949, O'Connor played the lead role in Francis, the story of a soldier befriended by a talking mule. Directed by Arthur Lubin, 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. O'Connor later said the films "were fun to make. Actually, they were quite challenging. I had to play straight in order to convince the audience that the mule could talk."[14]

O'Connor followed the first Francis with comedies: Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950), The Milkman (1950), and Double Crossbones (1951).

He did Francis Goes to the Races (1951), another big hit. In February 1951 he signed a new contract with Universal for one film a year for four years, enabling him to work outside the studio.[15]

Singin' in the Rain

In January 1952, O'Connor signed a three-picture deal with Paramount.[16] He also received an offer to play Cosmo the piano player in Singin' in the Rain (1952) at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

That film featured his widely known rendition of "Make 'Em Laugh", which he choreographed with help from the assistant dance directors and his brother.[17] The number featured dozens of jumps, pratfalls, and two backflips launched by running halfway up a wall.

"The scene was building to such a crescendo, I thought I'd actually have to kill myself," said O'Connor.[18]

He acted alongside Gene Kelly, and earned the 1953 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical.[19]

O'Connor went back to Universal for Francis Goes to West Point (1952) then returned to MGM for I Love Melvin (1953) a musical with Debbie Reynolds.

He began appearing regularly on television. One review in 1952 called him "1952's new star. Movie bred, he has the versatility of a Jimmy Durante and the effervescence of youth. He can dance, he can sing, he can act, and he can spout humor, but not yet with the finesse of a veteran."[20]

He supported Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam (1953) at 20th Century Fox, later saying the film contained his best dancing.[21] He co-starred in another Fox 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.

After Francis Covers the Big Town (1953), Universal put O'Connor in a musical in color, Walking My Baby Back Home (1953) with Janet Leigh.

O'Connor's industry and public recognition reached a peak in 1954, when he was asked to emcee that year's Academy Awards ceremony.[22]

He received excellent notices for Francis Joins the WACS (1954) and was scheduled to play Bing Crosby's partner in White Christmas (1954). O'Connor was forced to withdraw because he contracted an illness transmitted by the mule[23] and was replaced in the film by Danny Kaye.[24]

O'Connor, resentful of how the Francis series had interfered with his musical career, reluctantly agreed to star in Francis in the Navy (1955).[25] Arthur Lubin, who directed the series, later recalled that O'Connor "got very difficult" to work with: "He'd sit in his dressing room and stare into space, and I think he had problems at home."[26]

Universal did not renew O'Connor's contract after 13 years with the company. At a farewell luncheon, the studio executives presented him with a gift: a camera and 14 rolls of film. O'Connor was stunned at the insignificance of the gift after all the millions of dollars he had made for the studio, and in later life recalled, "What can I say about these people?"

O'Connor and Bing Crosby united on Anything Goes (1956) at Paramount. That studio also released The Buster Keaton Story (1957), in which O'Connor had the title role.

The Brussels Symphony Orchestra recorded some of his work, and in 1956 he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of his first symphony, "Reflections d'Un Comique".[27]

Television

O'Connor was a regular host of NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour,[6] and starred in The Donald O'Connor Show (1954–55) for one season.

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 the late 1950s he began guest starring on shows like Playhouse 90, The DuPont Show of the Month, and The Red Skelton Hour. But his focus moved increasingly to touring live shows.[28]

1960s

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.

He subsequently focused on theatre work and his nightclub act, performing in Las Vegas.[29] He returned to Universal for the first time in ten years to make the Sandra Dee comedy That Funny Feeling (1965).[30]

He did episodes of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Vacation Playhouse, ABC Stage 67 and The Jackie Gleason Show. He also appeared in several productions of Little Me.[31]

In 1968, O'Connor hosted a syndicated talk show also called The Donald O'Connor Show. The program was canceled because the dancer was becoming "too political," and O'Connor was reprimanded by the studio.[32]

1970s

He began to use nitroglycerin pills before performances so that he would have the stamina to complete them. He then suffered a heart attack in 1971, leading him to quit taking the medication.[33]

He was in a TV production of Li'l Abner (1971) and continued to perform on stage, notably in Las Vegas.[34]

He guest-starred on episodes of The Girl with Something Extra, Ellery Queen, The Bionic Woman, Police Story, and Hunter.[35]

O'Connor claimed to have overcome his depression after being hospitalized for three months after collapsing in 1978.[6] He wrote letters to his friends and family explaining that his life had "completely changed". The dancer was paralyzed from the waist down, but recovered by way of physical therapy. The letters detail the lives of other patients, particularly a 30-year-old man who was completely immobilized.

"I won't take anything I have for granted again," was written in each letter. O'Connor credited the patients he met and thanked God for allowing him to recover.

1980s

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. The following year he was in I Ought to Be in Pictures in Los Angeles.[36]

He was Cap'n Andy in a short-lived Broadway revival of Show Boat (1983) and continued to tour in various shows and acts.

"I've been on the road forever," he said in 1985, adding "I'd consider another movie or a TV series, but I won't play an old man. Art Carney is about my age and he's making a career out of being old. I'm still singing and dancing. I'm not ready to be old."[8]

O'Connor guest starred on The Littlest Hobo, Fantasy Island, Simon & Simon, Hotel, Alice in Wonderland, The Love Boat, and Highway to Heaven, and was in the films Pandemonium (1982), A Mouse, a Mystery and Me (1988), and A Time to Remember (1988).

He bought a theatre, the Donald O'Connor Theatre, and would perform in it with his children. In a 1989 interview he said "There's an element out there that wants to be entertained-and they can't find this kind of thing I do. And yeah, I think I wear well. I sing, I dance, I do comedy. I'm not threatening. When you grow up in a circus family, the more things you learn, the more you get paid. So I can do straight comedy without the song and dance; I can do all kinds of combinations. Whatever's in at the time, I can fit into."[37]

He developed heart trouble and underwent successful quadruple-bypass surgery in 1990.[38]

1990s

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. He continued to perform live.[39]

He had guest roles in Murder, She Wrote, Tales from the Crypt, The Building, The Nanny and Frasier, and was in the films Bandit: Bandit's Silver Angel (1994), and Father Frost (1996).

In 1992 he said, "I never wanted to be a superstar. I'm working on being a quasar, because stars wear out. Quasars go on forever... I look for the parts where I die and they talk about me for the rest of the movie."[38]

In 1998, he received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars.[40]

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. He said he went on the road "about 32 weeks a year. I do my concert work and I do night clubs and that kind of stuff. So I don't dance much any more, but I do enough to show people I can still move my legs."[5]

Personal life

O'Connor was married twice and had four children. His first marriage was in 1944 to Gwendolyn Carter, when he was 18 and she was 20. They married in Tijuana.[41] Together they had one child, a daughter Donna. The couple divorced in 1954.[42][43]

He was married to Gloria Noble from October 11, 1956 until his death. They had three children: Alice, Fred, and Kevin. They were married for 47 years and lived in Thousand Oaks, CA. Gloria died on June 11, 2013, of natural causes.

O'Connor had undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1990,[44] and he nearly died from pleural pneumonia in January 1999. 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.[45]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1937 Melody for Two Specialty Act Uncredited
It Can't Last Forever Kid Dancer
1938 Men with Wings Young Pat Falconer
Sing You Sinners Mike Beebe
Sons of the Legion Butch Baker
Tom Sawyer, Detective Huckleberry Finn
1939 Boy Trouble Butch
Unmarried Young Ted Streaver
Million Dollar Legs Sticky Boone
Beau Geste Young Beau Geste
Night Work Butch Smiley
Death of a Champion Small Fry
On Your Toes Young Phil Dolan Jr.
1942 What's Cookin'? Tommy
Private Buckaroo Donny
Give Out, Sisters Don
Get Hep to Love Jimmy Arnold
When Johnny Comes Marching Home Frankie Flanagan
1943 It Comes Up Love Ricky Ives
Mister Big Donald J. O'Connor, Esq.
Top Man Don Warren
1944 Chip Off the Old Block Donald Corrigan
Follow the Boys Donald O'Connor
This Is the Life Jimmy Plum
Patrick the Great Pat Donahue Jr.
The Merry Monahans Jimmy Monahan
Bowery to Broadway Specialty Number #1
1947 Something in the Wind Charlie Read
1948 Are You With It? Milton Haskins
Feudin', Fussin', and A-Fightin' Wilbur McMurty
1949 Yes Sir That's My Baby William Waldo Winfield
Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc. Himself Short film
1950 Francis Peter Stirling
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek Edward Timmons
The Milkman Roger Bradley
1951 Double Crossbones Davey Crandall
Francis Goes to the Races Peter Stirling
1952 Singin' in the Rain Cosmo Brown
Francis Goes to West Point Peter Stirling
1953 Call Me Madam Kenneth Gibson
I Love Melvin Melvin Hoover
Francis Covers the Big Town Peter Stirling
Walking My Baby Back Home Clarence 'Jigger' Millard
1954 Francis Joins the WACS Peter Stirling
There's No Business Like Show Business Tim Donahue
1955 Francis in the Navy Lt. Peter Stirling/Slicker Donovan
1956 Anything Goes Ted Adams
1957 The Buster Keaton Story Buster Keaton
1961 Cry for Happy Murray Prince
The Wonders of Aladdin Aladdin
1965 That Funny Feeling Harvey Granson
1974 Just One More Time Himself Short film/uncredited
That's Entertainment!
1978 The Big Fix Francis Joins the Navy
1981 Ragtime Dance Instructor
1982 Pandemonium Mr. Dandy
1989 A Time to Remember Father Walsh
1992 Toys Kenneth Zevo
1994 Bandit's Silver Angel Uncle Cyrus
1996 Father Frost Baba Yaga
1997 Out to Sea Jonathan Devereaux

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1950 All Star Revue Himself Episode: "1x5"
1951–1954 Colgate Comedy Hour 20 episodes
1953-1962 The Ed Sullivan Show 3 episodes
1954 The Jimmy Durante Show Episode: "1x1"
1954–1955 The Donald O'Connor Show 19 episodes
1956–1961 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show 2 episodes
1957 Playhouse 90 Himself/Dr. Robert Harrison 2 episodes: The Clouded Image & The Jet Propelled Couch
1958 DuPont Show of the Month Johnny Shaw Episode: "The Red Mill"
The Red Skelton Hour Himself Episode: "Friends of the Red Skelton Variety Show"
1959 Pontiac Star Parade Himself Television special
1962 Tonight Starring Jack Paar Guest Host 5 episodes
1963 The Judy Garland Show Himself Episode: "1x7"
1964–1967 The Hollywood Palace Host 6 episodes
1964 Petticoat Junction — Director episode: "The Ladybugs"
The Bob Hope Thanksgiving Special Himself Television special
1964—1966 The Bell Telephone Hour 3 episodes
1964–1969 The Bob Hope Show 2 episodes
1966 The Chrysler Theatre Benjamin Boggs Episode: "Brilliant Benjamin Boggs"
Vacation Playhouse Donald Dugan Episode: "The Hoofer"
ABC Stage 67 Hermes Episode: "Olympus 7-0000"
1967–1974 The Dean Martin Show Himself 5 episodes
1968 ...and Debbie Makes Six Television special
1968–1969 The Donald O'Connor Show 5 episodes
1969–1970 The Carol Burnett Show 2 episodes
1969 The Jackie Gleason Show Charlie Ryan/Charlie Pineapple Episode: "The Honeymooners: Hawaii, Oh! Oh!"
1970 The Engelbert Humperdinck Show Himself Episode: "1x1"
The Andy Williams Show 2 episodes
The Don Knotts Show Episode: "1x10"
1971 Li'l Abner General Bashington T. Bullmoose Television special
1972 The Bobby Darin Amusement Company Himself Episode: "1x4"
1972–1973 The Julie Andrews Hour 2 episodes
1973 The Bobby Darin Show Episode: "1x7"
1974 The Girl with Something Extra William Episode: "Irreconcilable Sameness"
1975 Ellery Queen Kenneth Freeman Episode: "The Comic Book Crusader"
1976 The Bionic Woman Harry Anderson Episode: "A Thing of the Past"
Police Story Holly Connor Episode: "Payment Deferred"
Tony Orlando and Dawn Himself Episode: "Donald O'Connor/Soupy Sales"
1977 Hunter Lou Martin Episode: "The Costa Rican Connection"
1980 Lucy Moves to NBC Himself Television film
The Steve Allen Comedy Hour Episode: "Donald O'Connor, Martin Mull, Joey Forman"
1981–1986 The Love Boat Howard Enicker/Leo Halbert/Oscar Tilton 3 episodes
1981 Alice Himself Episode: "Guinness on Tap"
Standing Room Only George M. Cohan Episode: "The Last Great Vaudeville Show"
1982 The Littlest Hobo Freddie the Clown Episode: "The Clown"
Fantasy Island Dr. Johnn Watson Episode: "The Cast Against Mr. Roarke/Save Sherlock Holmes"
1983 Simon and Simon George Decova/Barnaby the Great Episode: "Grand Illusion"
Alice in Wonderland Mock Turtle Television film
Hotel David Connelly Episode: "The Offer"
1985 Half Nelson Director Episode: "The Deadly Vase"
Alice in Wonderland The Lory Bird Miniseries
1987 Highway to Heaven Jackie Clark Episode: "Playing for Keeps"
A Mouse, a Mystery and Me Alex the Mouse (voice) Television special
1990 Murder, She Wrote Barry Barnes Episode: "The Big Show of 1965"
1992 Tales from the Crypt Joseph Renfield Episode: "Strung Along"
1993 The Building Mr. Kennedy Episode: "Father Knows Best"
1996 Frasier Harlow Stafford Episode: "Crane vs. Crane"
The Nanny Fred Episode: "Freida Needa Man"

Stage

See also

References

  1. ^ Hess, Earl J; Dabholkar, Pratibha A (2009). Singin' in the rain : the making of an American masterpiece. University Press of Kansas. p. 45. ISBN 9780700616565. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  2. ^ "O'Connor, Donald David Dixon Ronald". Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. Encyclopedia.com. 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  3. ^ Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (October 8, 2006). Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93853-8.
  4. ^ Current Biography Yearbook, Vol. 16. H.W. Wilson Co. 1955. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e DONALD O'CONNOR Weekend All Things Considered; Washington, D.C. : 1. Washington, D.C.: NPR. (May 25, 1997)
  6. ^ a b c d Severo, Richard (September 29, 2003). "Donald O'Connor, 78, Who Danced His Way Through Many Hollywood Musicals, Is Dead". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Hess, Earl J; Dabholkar, Pratibha A (2009). Singin' in the rain : the making of an American masterpiece. University Press of Kansas. p. 45. ISBN 9780700616565. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  8. ^ a b DONALD O'CONNOR'S MUSICAL JOURNEY KEEPS HIM ON ROAD: [SPORTS FINAL, CN Edition] Dale, Steve. Chicago Tribune December 20, 1985: 50.
  9. ^ a b c The Life Story of DONALD O'CONNOR. Picture Show, London, Vol. 62, Iss. 1607 (January 16, 1954): 12.
  10. ^ a b Chicago Born Donald O'Connor Is a Veteran of Stage and Films at 25 Zylstra, Freida. Chicago Daily Tribune July 27, 1950: c1.
  11. ^ Obituaries: Donald O'Connor, 78, comic and dancer Anonymous. Back Stage; New York Vol. 44, Iss. 40, (Oct 3 – 9, 2003): 47.
  12. ^ Zylstra, Freida. (July 25, 1950) "Chicago Born Donald O'Connor Is a Veteran of Stage and Films at 25" Chicago Daily Tribune
  13. ^ Donald O'Connor, Miss Main Set Comedy. Pace, G K. Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1948: 12.
  14. ^ Donald O'Connor's musical Journey keeps him on road Dale, Steve. Chicago Tribune December 20, 1985: n_a50.
  15. ^ "Drama: Howard Duff Will Soon Star in 'Cave'". Los Angeles Times. February 9, 1951. p. B10.
  16. ^ PARAMOUNT SIGNS DONALD O'CONNOR: Actor Will Make 3 Pictures for Studio -- Betty Hutton's Film May Be One of Them By THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times. January 24, 1952: 23.
  17. ^ Filmed interview shown on TCM
  18. ^ T, Teresa and Tracy Ann Murray, T 'n'. "Donald O'Connor Web Site".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Golden Globes Awards". Golden Globes, LLC. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  20. ^ YOUNG DONALD O'CONNOR MAKES GOOD IN VIDEO Chicago Daily Tribune April 20, 1952: e2.
  21. ^ "Donald O'Connor interview - Mindy Aloff". Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  22. ^ Donald O'Connor Named to Emcee Oscar Awards, Chicago Daily Tribune February 19, 1954: a8.
  23. ^ Q Fever Hits Star, Melbourne Argus August 15, 1953, p. 4.
  24. ^ Donald O'Connor Enters Hospital Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times August 9, 1953: 3.
  25. ^ Donald O'Connor Scheduled for Another 'Francis' Film Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune, October 18, 1954: b16.
  26. ^ Davis, Ronald L. (2005). Just Making Movies. University Press of Mississippi. p. 183. ISBN 9781578066902.
  27. ^ Obituary: Donald O'Connor: Dynamic dancer and comedian Bergan, Ronald. The Guardian September 29, 2003: 1.21.
  28. ^ MOULIN ROUGE DATE: Donald O'Connor Joins Rush to L.A. Stage Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times March 1, 1959: f3.
  29. ^ Donald O'Connor Billed at Sahara Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times August 15, 1966: c21.
  30. ^ Donald O'Connor Returns to Universal Los Angeles Times August 17, 1965: C10.
  31. ^ Donald O'Connor Stars in 'Little Me' Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times April 19, 1968: c18.
  32. ^ Alex McNeil, Total Television, p. 231
  33. ^ "Donald O'Connor by Susan M. Kelly".
  34. ^ LAS VEGAS SCENE: Donald O'Connor in Dancing Shoes Again Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times April 12, 1973: g21.
  35. ^ Donald O'Connor in Drama Role With Vince Edwards Los Angeles Times July 3, 1976: b4.
  36. ^ DONALD O'CONNOR IN 'PICTURES', Los Angeles Times April 12, 1982: g3
  37. ^ Donald O'Connor Keeps Studio City Theater in the Family-Literally: [Valley Edition] ARKATOV, JANICE. Los Angeles Times March 3, 1989: 28.
  38. ^ a b Donald O'Connor, 78, Who Danced His Way Through Many Hollywood Musicals, Is Dead: [Obituary (Obit)] Severo, Richard. The New York Times September 29, 2003: B.6.
  39. ^ IN STEP WITH: Donald O'Connor Brady, James. The Washington Post March 14, 1993: AA16.
  40. ^ "Palm Spring Walk of Stars". PalmSprings.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  41. ^ Donald O'Connor Weds Secretly. The New York Times, February 8, 1944: 12.
  42. ^ Donald O'Connor Divorced. The New York Times, June 17, 1953: 32.
  43. ^ Donald O'Connor to Marry. The New York Times, October 10, 1956: 46.
  44. ^ "Archives - Philly.com". Archived from the original on April 13, 2014.
  45. ^ Welkos, Robert W. (September 28, 2003). "Donald O'Connor, 78; Entertainer Immortalized by 'Singin' in the Rain'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
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