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Biography
refimprove|date=March 2011Infobox person| name = Donald O'Connor| image = Donald O'Connor in I Love Melvin trailer.jpg| caption = in I Love Melvin | imagesize =| birth_name = Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor| birth_date = Birth date|1925|8|28|mf=y| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois , United States| death_date = Death date and age|2003|9|27|1925|8|28|mf=y| death_place = Calabasas, California , United States| spouse = Gwen Carter (1944-54) Gloria Noble (1956-2003)| years_active = 1937–97| occupation = dancer, singer, actor Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor (August 28, 1925 & ndash; September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean , Peggy Ryan , and Francis the Talking Mule . He is best known today for his role as Gene Kelly 's friend and colleague Cosmo Brown in '' Singin' in the Rain (1952).
Early years
Though he considered Danville, Illinois to be his home town, O’Connor was born in St. Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago, Illinois . His parents, Effie Irene (née Crane) and John Edward "Chuck" O'Connor, were vaudeville entertainers. http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2875000221/oconnor-donald-david-dixon.html http://books.google.ca/books? id=XFnfnKg6BcAC& pg=PA840& dq=Effie+and+John+Edward+%22Chuck%22+O%27Connor& hl=en& redir_esc=y His father's family was from County Cork , Ireland. http://books.google.ca/books? id=_JsYAAAAIAAJ& q=Effie+and+John+Edward+%22Chuck%22+O%27Connor& dq=Effie+and+John+Edward+%22Chuck%22+O%27Connor& hl=en& redir_esc=y When O'Connor was only a few years old, he and his sister Arlene were in a car crash outside a theater in Hartford, Connecticut ; O'Connor survived, but his sister was killed. Several weeks later, his father died of a heart attack while dancing on stage in Brockton, Massachusetts .cite news |title=Donald O'Connor, 78, Who Danced His Way Through Many Hollywood Musicals, Is Dead|author=Richard Severo |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html? res=F20716FD3A590C7A8EDDA00894DB404482 |newspaper=The New York Times |date= September 29, 2003 |accessdate=March 2, 2011 O'Connor at the time was being held in the arms of the theater manager Mr. Maurice Sims.
Career
O'Connor began performing in movies in 1937. He appeared opposite Bing Crosby in Sing, You Sinners at age 12. Paramount Pictures used him in both A and B films, including Tom Sawyer, Detective and Beau Geste (1939 film)|Beau Geste . In 1940, when he had outgrown child roles, he returned to vaudeville.
In 1942 O'Connor joined Universal Pictures . He played roles in four of the Gloria Jean musicals, and achieved stardom with Mister Big (1943 film)|Mister Big (1943).
In 1944, O'Connor was drafted into the United States Army|Army . Before he reported for induction, Universal Pictures rushed him through three feature films, done simultaneously and released when he was overseas. After his discharge, Universal (now reorganized as Universal-International) cast him in lightweight musicals and comedies.
In 1949, he played the lead role in Francis (1950 film)|Francis , the story of a soldier befriended by a talking mule. The film was a huge success. However, his musical career was constantly interrupted by his making one Francis film a year until 1955. It was because of Francis that O'Connor missed out on playing Bing Crosby's companion in White Christmas (film)|White Christmas . O'Connor was unavailable because he contracted an illness transmitted by the mule, and was replaced in the film by Danny Kaye . O'Connor's role as Cosmo the piano player in '' Singin' in the Rain earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
Donald O'Connor was a regular host of NBC 's Colgate Comedy Hour . 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. He also had a television series in the late 1960s.
After overcoming alcoholism in the 1970s, he had a career boost when he hosted the Academy Awards , which earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations. He appeared as a gaslight-era entertainer in the 1981 film Ragtime (film)|Ragtime , notable for similar encore performances by James Cagney and Pat O'Brien (actor)|Pat O'Brien . O'Connor appeared in the short-lived Bring Back Birdie on Broadway theatre|Broadway in 1981, and continued to make film and television appearances into the 1990s. Donald 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.
Death
O'Connor died from congestive heart failure in 2003 at age 78. His last words were reported to have been a tongue-in-cheek thanks to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a Lifetime Achievement award that he expected to receive at a "future date". His remains were cremated and buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
O'Connor was survived by his wife, Gloria, and four children.
References in popular culture
Donald O'Connor's computer-generated likeness appeared, alongside that of Gene Kelly , in a 2011 television commercial, for the Volkswagen Jetta , in which they performed a seated dance in the backseat of a Jetta to illustrate the large amount of leg room available.cite news |title=What's Wrong With Waking The Dead: Gene Kelly And Donald O'Connor, Cut Out |author=Linda Holmes |url= http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/01/24/133174094/whats-wrong-with-waking-the-dead-gene-kelly-and-donald-oconnor-for-jetta |newspaper=NPR |date= January 24, 2011 |accessdate=March 2, 2011 O'Connor's signature " Make 'Em Laugh (song)|Make 'Em Laugh " number has often been repeated by other entertainers. In 1995, Tim Curry , Kathy Najimy , and Mara Wilson reprised it onstage at the Academy Awards .Citation needed|date=July 2011 Versions of the routine have also been performed on other television programs, including The Substitute (Glee)|Glee Cite episode | title = The Substitute | episodelink = The Substitute (Glee) | accessdate = July 16, 2011 | series = Glee | serieslink = Glee (TV series) | credits = Harry Shum, Jr. as Mike Chang and Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester | network = Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX | airdate = start date|2010|11|16| season = 2 | number = 7 and Saturday Night Live .cite news | url= http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/11/joseph_gordon-levitt_makes_em.html | title=Joseph Gordon-Levitt Makes ‘Em Laugh (And Then Some) on SNL | work=New York Magazine | date=November 22, 2009 | accessdate=July 16, 2011 | author=Graham, Mark
Filmography
Film
col-begincol-break
'' It Can't Last Forever (1937)
Men with Wings (1938)
Sing You Sinners (1938 film)|Sing You Sinners (1938)
Sons of the Legion (1938)
Tom Sawyer, Detective (1938)
Boy Trouble (1939)
Unmarried (film)|Unmarried (1939)
Million Dollar Legs (1939 film)|Million Dollar Legs (1939)
Beau Geste (1939 film)|Beau Geste (1939)
Night Work (film)|Night Work (1939)
Death of a Champion (1939)
On Your Toes (1939)
'' What's Cookin'? (1942)
Private Buckaroo (1942)
Give Out, Sisters (1942)
Get Hep to Love (1942)
When Johnny Comes Marching Home (film)|When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1942)
It Comes Up Love (1943)
Mister Big (1943 film)|Mister Big (1943)
Top Man (film)|Top Man (1943)
Chip Off the Old Block (1944)
Follow the Boys (1944)
This Is the Life (1944 film)|This Is the Life (1944)
The Merry Monahans (1944)
Bowery to Broadway (1944)
Patrick the Great (1945)
Something in the Wind (1947)
Are You With It? (1948)
'' Feudin', Fussin', and A-Fightin' (1948)
col-break
Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc. (1949) (short subject)
'' Yes Sir That's My Baby (1949)
Francis (1950 film)|Francis (1950)
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950)
The Milkman (1950)
Double Crossbones (1951)
Francis Goes to the Races (1951)
'' Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Francis Goes to West Point (1952)
I Love Melvin (1953)
Call Me Madam (film)|Call Me Madam (1953)
Francis Covers the Big Town (1953)
Walking My Baby Back Home (film)|Walking My Baby Back Home (1953)
Francis Joins the WACS (1954)
'' There's No Business Like Show Business (film)|There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
EmmyAward ComedyLeadActor 1950-1975GoldenGlobeBestActorMotionPictureMusicalComedy 1950-1960Oscars hosts 1941-1960 Persondata|NAME= O'Connor, Donald |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= O’Connor, Donald David Dixon Ronald |SHORT DESCRIPTION= dancer, singer, actor |DATE OF BIRTH= August 28, 1925 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Chicago, Illinois , U.S. |DATE OF DEATH= September 27, 2003 |PLACE OF DEATH= Calabasas, California , U.S. DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Donald Category:1925 births Category:2003 deaths Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American film actors Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American tap dancers Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure Category:American people of Irish descent Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vaudeville performers
