Donald O'Connor was a show business fixture for over 75 years, having made his stage debut at the age of 3 days! He appeared in his first film in 1937, at the age of 11. His reputation as a song-and-dance man, following in his entertainer family's footsteps, was established from that time on.
His most successful long-term gig was as the star of the Francis the Talking Mul series, the first of which appeared in 1949. He stopped the series after six, supposedly not pleased with the last three.
However, the film that people today associate most strongly with O'Connor is "Singin' in the Rain," also starring Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly. He won a Best Actor Golden Globe for the role of Cosmo Brown.
Donald had a TV career in the 50s, and won an Emmy for Best Male Star of a Regular Series
for "The Colgate Comedy Hour." He also hosted "The Donald O'Connor Show" in 1954 and again in 1968. His last film appearance was in 1997. He passed away in September, 2003, of heart failure.
We celebrate his life by enjoying as many Donald O'Connor Web pages as we can find, beginning with some dedicated tribute sites in Part II, and moving on to reviews, posters, etc. in Parts III and IV.
Part I: Introduction
Part II: Donald O'Connor Tributes and Other Pages
Part III: Movie Reviews & Where to Find His Movies
Part IV: Posters
