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, 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.


Singin' in the Rain (1952): $50,000
Francis (1950): $30,000

Hospitalized with pneumonia [31 January 1999] Had to have three days bed rest after the "Make 'Em Laugh" sequence in Singin' in the Rain (1952). 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. Received the 1953 Sylvania Award for his work on TV. He left Universal Pictures due to unhappiness over the studio's decision of type-casting him to the "super-polite boy" roles almost throughout his acting career, despite starring in many box office hits released by Universal. It was a bitter-sweet departure as Donald had been with Universal for most of his acting career. The studio held a small party for him and gave him a camera along with 14 films as a departure gift. Sadly, his acting career in Hollywood ended soon after his departure from Universal. In 1994, he and his wife, Gloria Noble, had a close brush with death. It was about four in the morning and he had just finished reading something in bed. All at once, the house started to shake (earthquake). The house started sliding off its foundation. Luckily, the house wedged up against a big tree and that kept it from crashing into a canyon. In 1998 he signed on for The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, a revue featuring 54-year-old + performers. He was their headliner, dancing and singing his way through eight performances a week. He closed out the season with the Palm Spring Follies, performing in the last four shows after recovering from a serious illness that stopped him from performing. While he's hesitant to select a favorite film, he's quick to single out his favorite performance: "Call Me Madam (1953) - my favorite number is in there with Vera-Ellen. It's the number I do out in the garden with her to "It's a Lovely Day Today". It's a beautiful lyrical number. I think she was the best dancer outside of Peggy Ryan I ever danced with". In the space of two years, he appeared in two different, unrelated adaptations of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland", playing different characters: he was the Mock Turtle in "Great Performances: Alice in Wonderland" (1983), and the Lory Bird in Alice in Wonderland (1985) (TV). Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 403-405. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.