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 Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. He graduated from the Professional Children's School in New York in 1936.

Radio

Donald first appeared on radio in 1927, playing Tiny Tim in a production of '' A Christmas Carol''. At age 11, he was the announcer for ''Uncle Olie and His Kne-Mel Gang'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. He became an announcer on CBS in 1931. He was famed as the character of Ajax Cassidy on

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program ''The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and for ...

'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? ''Can You Top This?'' was a radio panel game in which comedians told jokes and tried to top one another. The unrehearsed program, sponsored at one point by a papaya-flavored soft drink called Par and later by Colgate-Palmolive, was created by ...

'' In 1952, Donald served as host of ''

Don McNeill's Breakfast Club ''Don McNeill's Breakfast Club'' was a long-running morning variety show on NBC Blue Network/ ABC radio (and briefly on television) originating in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by Don McNeill, the radio program ran from June 23, 1933, through Decembe ...

'' for six weeks while McNeill was away.

Stage

Donald appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in ''Bitter Sweet'' (1929–1930) and ''Give Me Yesterday'' (1931).

Television

Donald was the host of two early television series, '' The Ad-Libbers'' (1951) and ''

Masquerade Party ''Masquerade Party'' was an American television game show. During its original run from 1952 to 1960, the show appeared at various times on every television network except DuMont ( ABC, NBC, and CBS). A syndicated revival was produced for one ...

'' (1954–1956), and he made numerous TV guest appearances as a comedian (''

The Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...

'', ''

The NBC Comedy Hour ''The NBC Comedy Hour'' was a comedy show that ran on NBC in the first half of 1956, intended to be a replacement for ''The Colgate Comedy Hour''. Leo Durocher hosted the show in January, and Gale Storm from February until April 8; from April 22 o ...

'') and panelist (''

Pantomime Quiz ''Pantomime Quiz'', initially titled ''Pantomime Quiz Time'' and later ''Stump the Stars'', was an American television game show produced and hosted by Mike Stokey. Running from 1947—1959, it has the distinction of being one of the few te ...

'', ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'', '' 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 ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' 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

. He hosted the ''

Texaco Star Theater ''Texaco Star Theater'' was an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave M ...

'' on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television network on September 14, 1948. At the show's closing he announced that Milton Berle 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 Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...

's tour de force performance of his WWII bombing parody skit from the 1946 film ''

Tars and Spars ''Tars and Spars'' is a 1946 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Alfred Drake, Janet Blair, and Marc Platt. Plot Howard Young is a coast guardsman who has been on shore duty for three years despite ...

''.

Writing

Donald wrote "plays, satirical sketches, and song lyrics."

Recognition

His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 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