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Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
August 28 1925-- September 27 2003
Chicago, Illinois
“Remember, if you do the same act for 20, 30 years it gets a little boring unless you've got something else going for you... And the orchestra really kept you going. They'd laugh at all your jokes, even if they'd been hearing them for the last 30 years.”
Donald O'Connor
From a vaudeville family act, his father John Edward "Chuck" O'Connor" was an acrobat with Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Baily Circus as a "leaper." His mother was a circus bareback rider and dancer named Effie. One of seven children, three died in infancy, but the rest were incorporated into show business. His mother kept the family going with extended family members despite many deaths (including her husband) until 1941.
Made his film debut at age 12 in Melody for Two (1937) with his two brothers, Jack and Billy, doing a specialty routine. Billy died a year or two later after contracting scarlet fever.
Was suppose to co-star with Bing Crosby in the perennial film classic White Christmas (1954) in 1954 but was sidelined with pneumonia and replaced by Danny Kaye.
O'Connor quit the "Francis" series in 1955, saying, "When you've made six pictures and the mule still gets more fan mail than you do ...."
"I was born and raised to entertain other people. I've heard laughter and applause and known a lot of sorrow. Everything about me is based on show business - I think it will bring me happiness. I hope so."
Donald O'Connor
...
Born into a vaudeville family, O'Connor was the youthful figure cutting a rug in several Universal musicals of the 1940s. His best-known musical work is probably Singin' in the Rain (1952), in which he did an impressive dance that culminated in a series of backflips off the wall. O'Connor was also effective in comedic lead roles, particularly as the companion to Francis the Talking Mule in that film series.
“I didn't smoke. I didn't smoke then, and I don't smoke now. We worked every day - that keeps you in pretty good shape. We could go for a long time in one take. You had to be in good shape with Gene Kelly.”
Donald O'Connor
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“I'm basically a hoofer, a tap dancer. I was always very good from the waist down, moving with the feet... I became what's known as a total dancer, using the entire body in order to express what you want to express in tap dancing and line.”
Donald O'Connor
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“I can picture things, like a painter would, though I'm not good at painting, either.”
Donald O'Connor
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“I think you should make more movies, more musicals. I think the public deserves that. I think this country deserves to be able to get out and foster that talent. Give them an opportunity to become stars. I think the whole idea is wonderful.”
Donald O'Connor
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The 1st winner of the Academy Award for best picture, and the only silent film to achieve that honor, was the 1927 film, "Wings."
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