Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L, Merksem (Anvers), no. B 16. Photo: Universal International. Donald O'Connor and Francis the Talking Mule in Francis in the Navy (Arthur Lubin, 1955).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 514. Photo: Universal International.
Dutch postcard by J. Sleding N.V., Amsterdam, no. 46. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Vera-Ellen and Donald O'Connor in Call Me Madam (Walter Lang, 1953).
A long series of peppy, low-budget musicals
Donald O'Connor was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925. He was the son of Irene and John Edward "Chuck" O'Connor, Irish immigrants who performed in vaudeville shows, the English counterpart of revue. O’Connor made his first stage appearance at the age of 13 months. He spent his childhood touring with his family’s vaudeville act and was reportedly able to dance before he could stand up straight, to sing before he developed a vocabulary, and to play several musical instruments before he learned to read music.
As a child, Donald was involved in a car accident outside a theatre in Hartford in which his sister was killed. His father died of a heart attack a few weeks later. From then on, the half-orphan appeared on the theatre stage. When he was 12, he and his two brothers were hired for a specialty act in the film musical Melody for Two (Louis King, 1937).
The following year he was signed to a $250-per-week contract at Paramount Pictures. His first film was Sing, You Sinners (Wesley Ruggles, 1938), in which he played Bing Crosby’s younger brother. During his one-year stay at Paramount, he occasionally portrayed the leading man as a youth in such films as Men with Wings (William A. Wellman, 1938) and the adventure film Beau Geste (William A. Wellman, 1939) with Gary Cooper, Robert Preston and Ray Milland in the leading roles.
He was also cast as Huck Finn in Tom Sawyer, Detective (Louis King, 1938). In addition to his film appearances, the child actor received training in singing and dancing. Donald became known as a comic actor and singer/dancer. After O'Connor had outgrown his child roles, he signed a studio contract with Universal Pictures in 1941.
He played leading roles in a long series of peppy, low-budget musicals, aimed primarily at young audiences. Among his most frequent partners at Universal were singer-dancer Peggy Ryan and actress Gloria Jean, alongside whom he appeared in four films each. From 1944, O'Connor served in the U.S. Special Services Corps, giving innumerable performances for his fellow servicemen. Universal withheld some of his films from cinemas for so long that even during his two-year absence from Hollywood, new films of his were regularly released.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1381. Photo: Paramount.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 125. Photo: Universal.
Dutch postcard by Takken / 't Sticht, no. 947. Photo: Universal International.
A talking mule named Francis
Donald O'Connor reached the peak of his career in the 1940s and 1950s at Universal Pictures. His first film after the war was Something in the Wind (Irving Pichel, 1947), in which he played the male lead alongside Deanna Durbin. Further musical films at Universal such as Yes Sir, That's My Baby (George Sherman, 1949) followed. In 1950, O'Connor played the comedic lead in the film Francis (Arthur Lubin, 1950), about a soldier named Peter Stirling who befriends a talking donkey named Francis. Francis was so successful that five more films for O'Connor and Francis the donkey followed until 1955. O'Connor later expressed some frustration that the donkey had received more fan letters than he had.
His most famous role was as Cosmo alongside Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in the classic musical Singin' In The Rain (Stanley Donen, 1952). O'Connor also sang the well-known song 'Make 'Em Laugh', in which he was also able to show off his talent for dynamic dance interludes. His performance in Singin' in the Rain was honoured with a Golden Globe Award. Less famous but no less impressive was his tap dance on roller skates in I Love Melvin (Don Weis, 1953).
Because of his boyish looks, romantic leads never fell to him, except when he was alongside bigger stars like Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam (Walter Lang, 1953) and Marilyn Monroe in There’s No Business Like Show Business (Walter Lang, 1954). Between 1954 and 1955, the television station NBC produced the musical sitcom The Donald O'Connor Show with him in the leading role. The heyday of the film musical came to an end, the increasing age of O'Connor, who subscribed to boyish roles and his alcohol problems caused O'Connor's career to falter in the second half of the 1950s.
After leaving Universal, he played silent film star Buster Keaton in the rather inaccurate biopic The Buster Keaton Story (Sidney Sheldon, 1957), but was unable to make a lasting impression. After that, leading roles in Hollywood became rare for him. In 1961, he played the title role in the Italian adventure film Le Meraviglie di Aladino/Aladdin's Adventures (Mario Bava, Henry Levin, 1961) with Noëlle Adam and Mario Girotti (a.k.a. Terence Hill). O'Connor had a short-lived television series in the 1960s.
After overcoming his drinking problem in the 1970s, he returned to the stage and appeared in the Broadway musicals 'Bring Back Birdie' (1981) and as Cap’n Andy in a revival of 'Show Boat' (1982). He continued film and television appearances into the 1990s. He played character parts in Ragtime (Milos Forman, 1981) starring James Cagney and the comedy Toys (Barry Levinson, 1992) with Robin Williams. O'Connor's last film was the Walter Matthau-Jack Lemmon comedy Out to Sea (Martha Coolidge, 1997). In 2003, Donald O'Connor passed away in Calabasas, California He left behind a wife, Gloria, and four children.
Belgian collectors card by Fotoprim, Brussels, for De Beukelaer, Antwerpen, no. A 46. Photo: Universal International.
Spanish postcard. Photo: Universal International. Piper Laurie and Donald O'Connor in Francis Goes to the Races (Arthur Lubin, 1951).
American postcard by Colourpicture, Boston, Mass., no. P51738. Caption: Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. In the wet cement of the world-famous forecourt, Mr. Kirk Douglas becomes a movie immortal as a crowd including Donald O'Connor and George Jessel looks on.
Sources: Britannica, Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.
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