Peter Donald (June 6, 1918 – April 20, 1979) was a British-born actor who worked in American radio and television. He has been called "one of radio's great dialecticians."
[Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s – A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . pp. 79–80.]
Early years
Donald was born in Bristol, England, in 1918.
[ ] His father (a comedian) and mother (a singer)
[ ] were performers in
Vaudeville.
[ He graduated from the ]Professional Children's School
Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades six through twelve. The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an academic ed ...
in New York in 1936.[
]
Radio
Donald first appeared on radio in 1927, playing Tiny Tim in a production of ''A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
''.[ At age 11, he was the announcer for ''Uncle Olie and His Kne-Mel Gang'' on CBS.][ ] He became an announcer on CBS in 1931.[
He was famed as the character of Ajax Cassidy on Fred Allen's radio show, the Irishman who continually complained that he was "not long for this world."
In addition to his long run on "Allen's Alley," Donald was a regular on ''Radio Reader's Digest'', ''Stage Door Canteen'', and ''We, the People''.][ He was also the host during the 1940s on ''County Fair''][ and read the jokes for radio's joke-telling panel program, '' Can You Top This?''][
]
Stage
Donald appeared on Broadway in ''Bitter Sweet'' (1929–1930) and ''Give Me Yesterday'' (1931).
Television
Donald was the host of two early television series, ''The Ad-Libbers
''The Ad-Libbers'' is a CBS comedy sketch game show that began on August 3, 1951, and ended on September 1, 1951, as a summer replacement for '' Mama''.
Format
Home viewers were invited to send in story ideas. The host would read the story out ...
'' (1951) and '' Masquerade Party'' (1954–1956), and he made numerous TV guest appearances as a comedian ('' The Colgate Comedy Hour'', '' The NBC Comedy Hour'') and panelist ('' Pantomime Quiz'', '' What's My Line?'', '' To Tell the Truth''). His TV appearances as an actor included ''Prize Performance'' (1950) and ''ABC Showcase'' (1950). He appeared on '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' in 1962, and one of his last TV appearances was on the daytime panel show ''Get the Message'' in 1964.
In the early 1950s, he lived in Manhattan on the south side of 58th Street between 7th Avenue and Broadway.
He hosted the '' Texaco Star Theater'' on the NBC television network on September 14, 1948. At the show's closing he announced that Milton Berle
Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...
would commence hosting on the next week's show & Berle momentarily appears. In addition to Donald's delightful stories, the show's highlight is Sid Caesar's tour de force performance of his WWII bombing parody skit from the 1946 film '' Tars and Spars''.
Writing
Donald wrote "plays, satirical sketches, and song lyrics."[
]
Recognition
His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
is located at 6665 Hollywood Boulevard. (Another source says that the star, in the Television category, is at 6661 Hollywood Boulevard and that it was dedicated February 8, 1960.)
Personal life
Donald was married to Jo Janis, an actress in radio.[
He was "identified with the cause of underprivileged children and ... devoted much of his spare time to curbing of juvenile delinquency."][ ]
References
External links
*
"Radio: The World's Worst Juggler," ''Time'', April 7, 1947.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, Peter
1918 births
1979 deaths
British expatriate male actors in the United States