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Donald O'Connor LJ Community

>The last song and dance man<

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Journal created:

on 12 November 2005 (#8775567)

Updated:

Name:

A Donald O'Connor Community

Website:

Donald O'Connor

Membership:

Open

Posting Access:

All Members , Moderated

This community is, obviously, for fans of Donald O'Connor to gather and chat. So who is Donald O'Connor? Let me give you a short biography on him, from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:

A great allaround talent who seldom got movie vehicles worthy of his abilities, Donald O'Connor is best remembered for his exuberant performance as Gene Kelly's pal Cosmo Brown in the 1952 MGM musical Singin' in the Rain and secondarily for his six on-screen gabfests with Francis the Talking Mule. His long career dates back to the fading days of vaudeville in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when he was part of a family act. At age 12 O'Connor made his film debut with his siblings in a nottoo-memorable programmer entitled Melody for Two (1937). The following year he was signed by Paramount to costar with Bing Crosby and Fred MacMurray in a featured role in Sing, You Sinners (1938), and he appeared in a handful of pictures at the studio, including Tom Sawyer, Detective (1938, playing Huckleberry Finn) and Beau Geste (1939, playing Gary Cooper as a boy).

O'Connor left the screen to return to what was left of vaudeville, but returned to Hollywood in 1942 and signed with Universal to star in their budget-minded youth musicals. What's Cookin', Get Hep to Love (both 1942), and Strictly in the Groove (1943) were typical of the forgettable fluff in which the always-brash and energetic O'Connor starred during World War 2 (often paired with the equally energetic Peggy Ryan), and his postwar films, including Are You With It? and Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (both 1948), were little better.

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, proved to be a big hit with kids and led to five sequels with O'Connor (and one final entry with Mickey Rooney). His other starring vehicles, like The Milkman (1950), and Double Crossbones (1951) were invariably modest efforts, but after the success of Singin' in the Rain (1952, with its showstopping "Make 'Em Laugh" number), MGM did fashion a starring vehicle for him, the enjoyable I Love Melvin (1953), and he went on to better costarring parts in Call Me Madam (1953, with Ethel Merman at 20th Century-Fox), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954, with Merman and Marilyn Monroe, also at Fox), and Anything Goes (1956, with Bing Crosby and Mitzi Gaynor, back at Paramount). He was given the full star treatment in Paramount's highly fictionalized version of The Buster Keaton Story (1957), but the movie flopped badly, and he made only a handful of films thereafter.

On TV O'Connor was one of the rotating hosts of "The Colgate Comedy Hour." (He was nominated for an Emmy as the Outstanding Personality of 1952, but lost out to Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.) He did win an Emmy the following year, and starred in three different incarnations of "The Donald O'Connor Show" for NBC in 1951 and 1954-55. In 1968 he hosted a short-lived talk show. Since leaving the screen, O'Connor has devoted considerable energy to the composition of concert music, and has also appeared extensively as a nightclub performer, teamed for years with Sidney Miller, and more recently with his Singin' in the Rain costar Debbie Reynolds. He did a cameo as a vaudevillian in Ragtime (1981), and has appeared as Captain Andy in a popular touring stage revival of "Show Boat." In 1992 he was chosen to play Robin Williams' dreamy-eyed toy-manufacturer father in Toys and the following year released his own exercise-oriented videocassette, "Let's Tap." Donald was then offered a small part in the 1997 film, "Out to Sea", which in he played a Dance Host on a cruise ship. The part was small, but it let Donald have the chance to do some tapping, which stole a scene or two in the movie.
Sadly, Donald O'Connor passed away in September, 2003. On his deathbed, he was quoted as saying - "I'd like to thank the academy for the lifetime achievement award that I will eventually get".

Important note: In order to see the messages, please friend this community as well as joining. I know it's a bother, but I want it kept that way.
Want to join? Membership is not moderated, and you're free to join whenever you like. Be warned though, all posts are moderated and anything that's not appropriate will be deleted and the person who posted it will be kicked out of the community.

1.If you've just joined the community, we'd like you to post an introduction, so the other members can get to know you a little better. After that, you're free to post Donald O'Connor stuff whenever you like!
2. This is a Donald O'Connor community, so keep the chat to at least related Donald O'Connor things.
3. Be nice to the other members - I don't want to have to break up fights about stupid things like when Mr O'Connor's birthday really is. ^^
4. Have fun!

1.Silver_icontest

1.ancientfeelings for the images used in the layout
2.Once I remember where I got my brushes from, I'll credit that too. XD

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anything goes, are you with it?, beau geste, call me madam, death of a champion, donald o'connor, double crossbones, feudin', francis the talking mule, fussin' and a-fightin', get hep to love, give out, i love melvin, it comes up love, melody for two, million dollar legs, mister big, on your toes, out to sea, patrick the great, private buckaroo, sing you sinners, singin' in the rain, sisters, tap dancing, the buster keaton story, the merry monahans, the milkman, tom sawyer detective, top man, toys, what's cookin'?

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