Don Defore

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Don Deforest

Birth Place

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA

Born

August 25, 1913

Died

December 22, 1993

Cause of Death

Cardiac Arrest

Biography

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Generally cast as the good-natured, friendly-neighbor type, character actor Don DeFore is best remembered for his television appearances of the '50s and '60s in "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" and "Hazel." DeFore took to the stage early, in church plays led by his mother, and he later studied drama at the Pasadena Playhouse. Starting in the late '30s he appeared in both films and pla...

Filmography

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A Rare Breed (1981)

The Facts of Life (1960)

A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)

[Herman] Boettcher

Battle Hymn (1957)

Captain [Dan] Skidmore

Jumping Jacks (1952)

She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)

Photos & Videos

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Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Twenty Four B-25's

Guy Named Joe, A -- (Movie Clip) Twin Hooks, Rhode Island

Biography

Generally cast as the good-natured, friendly-neighbor type, character actor Don DeFore is best remembered for his television appearances of the '50s and '60s in "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" and "Hazel." DeFore took to the stage early, in church plays led by his mother, and he later studied drama at the Pasadena Playhouse. Starting in the late '30s he appeared in both films and plays, including a run on Broadway in "The Male Animal," and reprising his role in the subsequent filmed version. Further film parts followed, including a GI with noble dreams in the 1947 postwar romantic comedy "It Happened on Fifth Avenue." He gained greater visibility with the recurring character of friendly neighbor "Thorny" in the popular family comedy "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet." In the early '60s, he landed another choice spot in a well-loved series, as the supposed master of the house on "Hazel," with Shirley Booth as the housekeeper of the title. He continued acting until 1987, with a final appearance in an episode of "St. Elsewhere." Off-screen, DeFore acted in radio plays, served a one-year term as President of the National Academy of Arts & Sciences, and was instrumental in organizing the first televised broadcast of the Emmy Awards in '55. He also has the rare distinction of opening the only independent restaurant in Disneyland, Silver Banjo Barbecue.

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

A Rare Breed (1981)

The Facts of Life (1960)

A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)

[Herman] Boettcher

Battle Hymn (1957)

Captain [Dan] Skidmore

Jumping Jacks (1952)

She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)

No Room for the Groom (1952)

Herman Strouple

A Girl in Every Port (1952)

And Now Tomorrow (1952)

The Guy Who Came Back (1951)

Southside 1-1000 (1950)

Dark City (1950)

Too Late For Tears (1949)

One Sunday Afternoon (1949)

My Friend Irma (1949)

Richard Rhinelander

Romance on the High Seas (1948)

It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)

Without Reservations (1946)

[Lieutenant] Dink [Watson]

The Stork Club (1945)

You Came Along (1945)

Shakespeare, also known as Captain W. Anders

The Affairs of Susan (1945)

A Guy Named Joe (1944)

James J. Rourke

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

Charles McClure

City Without Men (1943)

The Human Comedy (1943)

"Texas" Anthony

You Can't Escape Forever (1942)

The Male Animal (1942)

Wings for the Eagle (1942)

Right to the Heart (1942)

We Go Fast (1941)

Freshman Year (1938)

Garden of the Moon (1938)

Buck Delanye, cowboy

Brother Rat (1938)

Submarine D-1 (1937)

Cast (Special)

Jay Leno's Family Comedy Hour (1987)

NBC's 60th Anniversary Celebration (1986)

Mystery and Mrs (1950)

Cast (Short)

Return from Nowhere (1944)

Men of the Sky (1942)

Winning Your Wings (1942)

Life Events

1938

First Broadway role

1941

Film acting debut

Photo Collections

Too Late for Tears - Lobby Cards

Too Late for Tears - Lobby Cards

Too Late for Tears - Publicity Stills

Too Late for Tears - Publicity Stills

Romance on the High Seas - Lobby Cards

Here are a few Lobby Cards from Romance on the High Seas (1948), starring Doris Day. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Videos

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Twenty Four B-25's Opening scenes with Col. Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) and the B-25 piloted by Ted Lawson (who wrote the book, played by Van Johnson), crewmen Tim Murdock, Don DeFore, Gordon McDonald and Robert Walker, from Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, 1944.

Guy Named Joe, A -- (Movie Clip) Twin Hooks, Rhode Island Monitoring in-training pilot Ted (Van Johnson) at a night-spot, deceased aviator Pete (Spencer Tracy) encourages him to approach Ellen (Esther Williams), who's worried about recruit Sanderson (Charles Smith), in A Guy Named Joe, 1944.

Facts Of Life, The (1960) -- (Movie Clip) Just The Six Of Us After a prologue in which she narrated meeting with Bob Hope for a secret tryst, the title song and credits, then California housewife Lucille Ball further introduces Hope, Louis Nye the dentist, Philip Ober, Marianne Stewart, Ruth Hussey, and Don DeFore as her husband, in The Facts Of Life, 1960.

It Happened On Fifth Avenue -- (Movie Clip) When The House Is Boarded Up Newly-evicted veteran Jim (Don DeFore) is discovered on a Manhattan park bench by vagrant McKeever (Victor Moore), who happens to be squatting in a mansion, in Roy Del Ruth's It Happened On Fifth Avenue, 1947.

Without Reservations -- (Movie Clip) To Jack Benny Off the train in Chicago, "Kit" (Claudette Colbert) signs her book for Jack Benny, then chases down Rusty (John Wayne), whom she wants for the lead in the movie, and Dink (Don Defore), who still don't know she wrote the book, Erskine Sanford in the liquor store, in Without Reservations, 1946.

Without Reservations -- (Movie Clip) He's Lana Turner Author Christopher "Kit" Madden (Claudette Colbert) joins her new Marine pals Rusty (John Wayne) and Dink (Don DeFore) in the dining car, them still not knowing she wrote the ubiquitous best-seller, about to be made into a movie, in Without Reservations, 1946.

It Happened On Fifth Avenue -- (Movie Clip) Shed That Mink! Jim (Don DeFore) still doesn't know that he and McKeever (Victor Moore) are squatting in the home of a wealthy industrialist, when his daughter Mary (Ann Harding) arrives, in Roy Del Ruth's It Happened On Fifth Avenue, 1947.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) -- (Movie Clip) We'll Have These Talks Col. Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) addressing pilots (including Van Johnson as "Ted," Robert Mitchum as "Bob") and crews (Don DeFore, Robert Walker) about their still-secret mission, in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1944.

Male Animal, The -- (Movie Clip) Five Hundred Dollar Kiss Scenes introducing professor Tommy (Henry Fonda), wife Ellen (Olivia de Havilland), her sister Patricia (Joan Leslie), and her boyfriend, halfback Wally (Don DeFore), in The Male Animal, 1942, directed by Elliott Nugent from the play he wrote with James Thurber.

Male Animal, The -- (Movie Clip) He Went To Soviet Russia! Faculty wife Ellen (Olivia de Havilland) and husband Tommy (Henry Fonda) are hosting a homecoming weekend event for her one-time boyfriend, football hero Joe (Jack Carson), who's glad to see trustee Keller (Eugene Pallette), early in The Male Animal, 1942.

It Happened On Fifth Avenue -- (Movie Clip) That's What Christmas Means... Harry Revel's That's What Christmas Means To Me is the vehicle for Mary (Ann Harding), Jim (Don DeFore), McKeever (Victor Moore), Mike (Charlie Ruggles) and Trudy (Gale Storm), squatting in a mansion when the cops arrive, in It Happened On Fifth Avenue, 1947.

Bibliography

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