He also appeared in several productions of Little Me. 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 and some dance assistants strung together a series of O'Connor's funniest pratfalls and schtick. [9], In 1941, O'Connor signed with Universal Pictures for $200 a week, where he began with What's Cookin'? I'm working on being a quasar, because stars wear out. The fact that Reynolds could keep pace with her co-stars at all is remarkable. His succinct answer: "No. Watch, itll be marvelous. O'Connor and Bing Crosby united on Anything Goes (1956) at Paramount. Business wasnt just waiting to pick up when he got out of rehab. Ive still got to find a place in life as a human being, not a machine Im no angel. O'Connor credited the patients he met and thanked God for allowing him to recover. One young lad joined him for a special performance to commemorate his 30th anniversary in the business, which nearly doubled as a 31st birthday party. He was also in Columbia's It Can't Last Forever (1937). "[citation needed], O'Connor joined a dance act with his mother and elder brother Jack. Theytook it home with them for $1.50. They married in Tijuana. Born into a vaudeville family, O'Connor was the youthful figure cutting a rug in several Universal musicals of the 1940s. [18] He maintained he was forced to go to the hospital during the film's production due to injuries and exhaustion. I loved Fred and Ginger. Of all the famous dance partners choreographer-director Gene Kelly worked with, Jerry, the superimposed cartoon mouse from 1945's Anchors Aweigh, was his favorite. For 90 minutes, the full measure of his comic genius is on display, combining inspired innovation with an uncannily accurate reproduction of Keatons technique and mannerisms. The dancer was paralyzed from the waist down, but recovered by way of physical therapy. You gotta SMILE! [30], In 1968, O'Connor hosted a syndicated talk show also called The Donald O'Connor Show. "I'm an illusionista trickster who quick chances before your eyes," he admitted in 1992. Before he reported for induction on February 6, 1944, Universal already had four O'Connor films completed. The following year he was in I Ought to Be in Pictures in Los Angeles.[35]. "Make 'em Laugh" was like an expression of Mr. O'Connor's showbiz philosophy. It was just a fact. I hope so." [39], 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. The letters detail the lives of other patients, particularly a 30-year-old man who was completely immobilized. I did triple wings and everything. Download 'Symphony No.9 in E minor Opus 95 (2)' on iTunes, 11 June 2021, 17:23 | Updated: 11 June 2021, 17:27. Written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, [1] the song is closely based on Cole Porter 's "Be a Clown" from the Freed-produced 1948 MGM . "Our entire family composed an act", he says. Paramount held the project for him but he was not able to recover fully enough for the dance numbers in time to make the shooting schedule required for a December release. Zylstra, Freida. But doing one would mean being out in cold, cold New York for a year, a year and a half," he said. And yeah, I think I wear well. Tune in tomorrow for the third and final chapter in the Donald OConnor story. "Gene always said, 'You choreograph to the woman,' so he choreographed to Debbie's capabilities.You want your partner to look the best he or she can possibly look. Heres a selection of the. After all of that work, Kelly, who was also the film's co-director, ended up selecting the first take for the finished movie. Kelly was 20 years her senior and classically trained in ballet; O'Connor, 27 at the time, was another "triple threat" (actor, singer, and dancer) who had been performing in movies since the age of 12. 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. True, O'Connor hailed from a family of vaudeville performers who traversed the country as an exhibitionist troupe, but Donald seemed to have a penchant for the performing arts that transcended what one is able to learn through the application of mere instruction. Danny Kayesplum sidekick role wasoriginallyconceived for and pitched to him. I screeched, breaking free of his grasp and spitting. So I loved musicals. I move fast, I keep changing my hats. Chicago Tribune 20 Dec 1985: 50. It was around this time that Donald gave his most revealing and heart-wrenching interview. There ought to be a running club named after Donald O'Connora club with high hopes. But one couple discovered a different kind of treasure. Still appearing in films during the 90s and making public [44] His remains were cremated. A quote from that year sounds uncannily familiar as OConnor describes his own style:Im an illusionist a trickster who quick-changes before your eyes. I think is will bring me happiness. Chicago Born Donald O'Connor Is a Veteran of Stage and Films at 25 Noble died in 2013. After Francis Covers the Big Town (1953), Universal put O'Connor in a musical in colour, Walking My Baby Back Home (1953) with Janet Leigh. Not only did Kelly disparage Reynolds with harsh remarks, he also subjected her to unwanted sexual advances during their characters' first kiss, according to Unthinkable. He is remembered for his athletic dancing style and mischievous charm. Disillusionment came swiftly. O'Connor never went to school. Cause of death: alcoholism. Chicago Tribune 20 Dec 1985: n_a50. His belongings were auctioned off and all proceeds were given to charity. Because of a camera flaw where the aperture wasn't properly prepared and the device's lens was covered in fog at one point, Donald O'Connor was made to perform "Make 'Em Laugh" again a day after his first flawless execution of it. Donald O'Connor Returns to Universal His childrenquietly auctioned off his belongings to the public. Donald O'Connor Divorced. Quite simple to do rather spectacular., OConnors work in the film has fallen into Kellys shadow over the years,but the critics favored him at the time, andhe stole theGolden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy right from under Kellys nose. He also briefly crossed paths with Robin Williams in 1992, when Williams invited Donald to play his father in the off-beat experiment Toys. Los Angeles Times 9 Aug 1953: 3. Chicago Daily Tribune 27 July 1950: c1. Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! (May 25, 1997). Donald O'Connor Enters Hospital It would have been fascinating to watch them play off of each other, as they shared certain qualities in common. Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Dancing On The Ceiling. But I had never had any formal training. Which is a lot harder than it sounds.. Yet he could never bring himself to give less than 100%, even when it was junk.He and Debbie Reynolds were cast together in a dudcalled ILove Melvin, which both actors roundly panned, but he still delivered an unforgettabletap dance on roller skates. "I'd rather do something where I go in and work a week, maybe three days. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean Peggy Ryan and Francis the Talking Mule. "I was smoking four packs of cigarettes a day then, and getting up those walls was murder,"O'Connor said while reflecting upon the scene and its staggering effect upon him. A real entertainer would rather give than receive. Everybody loved the clown, but nobody knew who the real Donald OConnor wasnot even himself. They brought me those little Oriental rugswouldnt absorb a sponge. He consulted with his brother Jack on running up the wall,an old trick from his circus days. [37], 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. The New York Times 29 Sep 2003: B.6. Donald O'Connor, the breezy song-and-dance comedian who created movie magic with his spirited rendition of "Make 'em Laugh" in the Hollywood . "Gene said, 'Do you think you could do that number again?" He became one of the rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour and starred in three different incarnations of The Donald O'Connor Show for NBC in 1951 and 1954-55, for which he was nominated for an Emmy (1952) and received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Personality (1953). Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times 1 Mar 1959: f3. He also connected with a newgeneration of fansin a 1987 presentation to the student body of California Polytechnic University. 62, Iss. But all waskept so private that interviewers would laterexclaim that Donald must have escaped it for them not to hear any of the usual choice details. Donald O'Connor, whose "Make 'em Laugh" number in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) was a show-stopper that delighted and astonished generations of audiences, died at 78 on Saturday. O'Connor is also seen briefly dancing a vaudeville-styled tap routine as one of the three Dancing Dolans in the 1939 Warner Brother's musical On Your Toes, choreographed by George Balanchine. His father, John Edward "Chuck" O'Connor, was an acrobat with Ringling-Barnum and Bailey Circus; his mother, Effie, was a circus bareback rider and dancer. Unable to speakand barely able to breathe upon awaking, he immediately scribbled down a question: How long am I going to be here? Thanks for reading! He created the Donald O'Connor Alcoholism Counseling Scholarship. Watch more with these video collections. When MGM released its compilationThats Entertainment, this was the one that could still makelistless audiences break into spontaneous applause in the theaters. They were billed as the O'Connor Family, the Royal Family of Vaudeville. In 1975, the BBC asked Donald O'Connor if the musical was dead. It was the early 1950s, and I was an innocent kid who had never been French-kissed. Hes disciplined. Actually, they were quite challenging. The New York Times, 17 June 1953: 32. His succinct answer:No. Finally, the studio paired O'Connor opposite their biggest female star, Deanna Durbin, in Something in the Wind (1947). Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times 19 Apr 1968: c18. A young boy who aspires to become asinger has followedhis father into a bar to try to talk to him. O'Connor was married twice and had four children. At home, his wife Gloria recalled him asan absolute terror to live with at that time, his personality changing in seconds under the influence. You could do that with any kid, only I got paid for it. He then suffered a heart attack in 1971, leading him to quit taking the medication. I didn't have a short cut like the other dancers do. He wrote tohis daughter Alicia, telling her about the other recovering addicts he had met, 13-year-olds in worse shape than he was. Born into a family of circus and vaudeville performers, O'Connor made his first stage appearance at the age of 13 months. Some of it includes work for the United States Army and Red Cross. He would never look back again. Perhaps the flip side of being so responsible was the sheer . Brilliant choreography exquisite dancing a clever idea. I ran around frantic, yelling for some Coca-Cola to cleanse my mouth. All the same, the show indeed must go on (he also says this in the iconic "Make 'Em Laugh" scene). He maintained his high standards of excellence through the 60s, as evidenced in some rare clips thathave surfaced on Youtube. Its a tremendous honor. God bless you, OConnor replied. With the decline of the studio system by the end of the decade, O'Connor launched himself into the television industry. Ittook an extra specialty dancer to helpcover all the numbers. [23], He starred in The Donald O'Connor Show (195455) for one season. I'm still singing and dancing. Click to see full answer. Co-director Stanley Donen referenced the Cole Porter song "Be a Clown" from the film The Pirate, and further suggested that Freed and Brown compose a song using this as their inspiration. Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green recall that before shooting had started, they had "painfully wedged into the script as a cheering-up song" for Donald O'Connor the Freed/Brown song "The Wedding of the Painted Doll",[6] but during filming, Freed realized that O'Connor needed a better number, but could not find anything suitable for his character within his collection. His talent was once again relegated to small roles and brilliant one-offs in forgettable pictures. MOULIN ROUGE DATE: Donald O'Connor Joins Rush to L.A. Through it all, he never stopped working. They finishwith a song, but she forgets her one line. I'm not threatening. Dancing In the Rain: The Donald O'Connor Story (Part II of III), Dancing In the Rain: The Donald OConnor Story (Part III of III). When they brought him into the rehab hospital, Donald OConnor was paralyzed from the waist down. They toured the country doing singing, dancing, comedy, and acting. 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. 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. Donna recalled that it allculminated at the breakfast table one morning, when Donald asked Gwen, What would you like to do today? She answered,I want a divorce. He swallowed the pain and asked, Are you sure you wouldnt rather go to a movie? No, I want a divorce. She fought for and woncustody of Donna, leaving Donald with the dog. Written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown,[1] the song is closely based on Cole Porter's "Be a Clown" from the Freed-produced 1948 MGM musical film The Pirate, in which it was sung by Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Gene Kelly knew what he was doing when he hand-picked Donald OConnor as his right-hand man in Singin In the Rain. Read more: Watch this wonderful little and large tap-dancing duo. Sept. 28, 2003 12 AM PT. (1948), Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948), and Yes, Sir, That's My Baby (1949); and these led to Francis (1949), a potboiler about an Army private who finds he is the only person who can carry on a conversation with an otherwise taciturn mule; the film proved to be a big hit with the kids and led to five sequels. The item was OConnors personal Bible. Night Work (1939) Approved | 60 min | Comedy, Drama 6.8 Rate In a baffling move, this film also paired OConnor with none other than Marilyn Monroe. Weekend All Things Considered; Washington, D.C.: 1. 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