Ted Donaldson

Ted Donaldson (August 20, 1933 – March 1, 2023) was an American actor.

Ted Donaldson
Donaldson (center) with Conrad Nagel and Margaret Lindsay in Adventures of Rusty (1945)
Born(1933-08-20)August 20, 1933
New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 1, 2023(2023-03-01) (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1937–1976

Early years

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Donaldson was the son of singer-composer Will Donaldson and Josephine M. Donaldson née Plant. His mother died when he was 4+1⁄2 months old.[1] His stepmother was radio organist and composer Muriel Pollock.[2] He attended the Professional Children's School in New York City.[3]

Peggy Ann Garner and Ted Donaldson in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

Career

Donaldson began his acting career in December 1937 when he appeared in an NBC radio show.[3] In 1941, he played Tiny Tim in a week-long serialized version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol that was presented on Wheatena Playhouse.[4]

As an 8-year-old, Donaldson portrayed Harlan in the Broadway stage production of Life With Father.[5] In 1943, he performed alongside Gregory Peck in the play Sons and Soldiers.[2]

The performance led to a starring role as Arthur "Pinky" Thompson in his first movie, Once Upon a Time (1944), opposite Cary Grant and Janet Blair. Columbia Pictures put him under contract after the film was finished. In 1945, Donaldson was cast in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which marked the directorial debut of Elia Kazan.[2]

Donaldson also starred as Danny Mitchell in the 1940s Rusty series of eight films about a German Shepherd dog.[2]

From 1949 to 1954, he played Bud, the son of Robert Young's character in the radio version of Father Knows Best.[6] He was offered the same role on the television version of the series, but turned it down, saying, "I didn't want to be typed. I didn't want to be a 21-year-old playing a 15- or 16-year-old kid. I wanted to do other things."[2] As an adult, he called that "one of the two or three most stupid things I have not done because not only would the salary have been very nice for five years, but the residuals would have also."[2]

He retired from acting in 1976.

As an adult, Donaldson worked as an acting teacher and as a bookseller.[7] In his later years, Donaldson gave a number of interviews about his film career.[8]

In January 2023, Donaldson suffered a fall in his Echo Park apartment. He died of complications from the fall on March 1, 2023, at the age of 89.[7]

Filmography

References
  1. "Josephine M. Donaldson (nee Plant) obituary". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1933-12-28. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  2. Goldrup, Tom; Goldrup, Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Classic Film and Television. McFarland. pp. 57–66. ISBN 9780786412549. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  3. Collura, Joe (September 2016). "Ted Donaldson: A Natural". Classic Images (495): 76–81.
  4. "Holiday Serial". Broadcasting. December 15, 1941. p. 28. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  5. "Pop's New Boys". Daily News. New York. March 29, 1941. p. 21 B. Retrieved August 2, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  6. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  7. Barnes, Mike (2023-03-03). "Ted Donaldson, Young Actor in 'Father Knows Best' and 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,' Dies at 89". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  8. Interview with Ted Donaldson from 2019 at YouTube

Sources
  • Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell, pp. 184–185.
  • Best, Marc (1971). Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co. pp. 74–79.
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