FOUND A GRAVE

Don Harron (1924 - 2015)

Don Harron’s parents owned and operated Harron’s Cleaners and Dyers in Toronto. Beginning at the age of 10, he earned extra money for the family during the Great Depression, doing “chalk talks” telling humorous stories while drawing caricatures in coloured chalk at company or club banquets, making $10 or $15 a talk. As a result […]

Don Knotts (1924 - 2006)

Don Knotts Born Jesse Donald Knotts in Morgantown, West Virginia, he is best known for his roles as ‘Deputy Barney Fife’ in the 1960s television series the “Andy Griffith Show,” and as landlord ‘Ralph Furley’ from the late 1970s television situation comedy series “Three’s Company.” He began his career as a ventriloquist and comedian in […]

Don Megowan (1922 - 1981)

Don Megowan was born in Inglewood, California to Robert and Leila (nee Dale) Megowan. Leila was a negative cutter for Pathé, possibly what interested him in acting. At 6’7″ he was very active in sports, playing baseball, football, and throwing discus. He went to the University of California on a football scholarship, before serving in […]

Don Pardo (1918 - 2014)

Pardo was born in Westfield, Massachusetts to Dominick and Viola Pardo, immigrants from Poland, who owned a bakery. He spent his childhood in Norwich, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Emerson College in 1942.  Pardo was hired for his first radio position at WJAR in Providence in 1938.  He joined NBC as an […]

Don Porter (1912 - 1997)

Donald Porter (September 24, 1912 – February 11, 1997) was an American actor who appeared in a number of films in the 1940s, including Top Sergeant and Eagle Squadron, but is perhaps best known for his role as Russell Lawrence, the widowed father of 15-year-old Frances “Gidget” Lawrence (Sally Field) in the 1965 ABC situation […]

Don Siegel (1912 - 1991)

Born in Chicago, with Jewish origins, he attended schools in New York and later graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge in England. For a short time he studied at Beaux Arts in Paris, France, but left at age 20 and later made his way to Los Angeles.  Siegel found work in the Warner Bros. film library […]

Don Zimmer (1931 - 2014)

Zimmer, nicknamed “Zim,” “Gerbil,” and sometimes “Popeye” because of his facial resemblance to the cartoon character, began his career in 1949 with the Cambridge Dodgers of the Class-D Eastern Shore League. He then played with the Hornell Dodgers of the Class-D PONY League in 1950, the Elmira Pioneers of the Single-A Eastern League in 1951, the Mobile Bears of the Double-A Southern League in 1952, and the St. Paul Saints of the Triple-A American Association in 1953 […]

Dona Drake (1914 - 1989)

Dona Drake was born Eunice Westmoreland in Miami, Florida, in 1914 to Joseph Andrew Westmoreland of Arkansas and his wife, Novella Smith of Alabama. She was one of their five children. Entering show business in the 1930s, she used the names Una Velon, Rita Rio and Rita Shaw. She settled on the stage name Dona Drake […]

Donal Donnelly (1931 - 2010)

He was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, but brought up in Dublin, Ireland. His father James was a doctor from County Tyrone, and his mother Nora O’Connor was a teacher from Kerry. Donal Donnelly attended school at Synge Street Christian Brothers School in Dublin where he acted in school plays with Milo O’Shea, Eamonn Andrews, Jack […]

Donald A. Glaser (1926 - 2013)

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Glaser completed his Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics from Case School of Applied Science in 1946. He completed his Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1949. Glaser accepted a position as an instructor at the University of Michigan in 1949, and was promoted to […]

Donald Beardslee (1943 - 2005)

Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1943, Beardslee was the oldest of three children whose father died when he was 11. He was sent to a military school at age 15 and joined the U.S. Air Force at 19, where he served for four years as an aircraft mechanic. He and another airman were caught […]

Donald Crisp (1882 - 1974)

Donald Crisp was born in Bow, London at the family home on 27 July 1882. He was one of eight children (four boys and four girls) born to James and Elizabeth Crisp. He was educated at the University of Oxford after serving as a trooper in the 10th Hussars in the Boer War. Crisp claimed […]

Donald Dunn (1941 - 2012)

Donald Dunn As the bass player on dozens of the most soulful hits in the history of pop music, Donald “Duck” Dunn often found himself out on the road playing to fans who had assumed he was black like the stars he supported, notably Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave. When audiences encountered […]

Donald Houston (1923 - 1991)

Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon (1949) with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money (1949) with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful. Later in his career he was cast in military roles and in comedies such […]

Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton (1970 - 1970)

American Astronaut. One of the “Original Seven” Mercury astronauts, he was grounded in 1962 due to a minor heart fibrillation. He was later named Director of Flight Crew Operations (otherwise known as “Chief Astronaut”), selecting all astronauts for crews until 1973, when he was restored to flight status. He flew 1 mission, the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz […]

Donald Leroy Evans (1957 - 1999)

In 1991, Evans was arrested in Louisiana for the kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl. He confessed to the killing and led the authorities to the girl’s body. He also confessed to killing more than 70 other people in over 20 different states. Most of the murders and rapes took place at rest stops and public […]

Donald O’Connor (1925 - 2003)

Though he considered Danville, Illinois to be his home town, O’Connor was born in St. Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago. His parents, Effie Irene (née Crane) and John Edward “Chuck” O’Connor, were vaudeville entertainers. His father’s family was from County Cork, Ireland. When O’Connor was only a few years old, he and his sister Arlene were […]

Donald Ray Wallace (1957 - 2005)

On January 14, 1980, Indiana State Trooper Thomas Snyder was called to the Evansville home of Ralph Hendricks as it had been reportedly burglarized. Snyder went to the home of Patrick and Theresa Gilligan, which was next door to Hendricks’s house, to inquire whether the Gilligans might have seen or heard anything unusual. Snyder, discovering […]

Donald Wesley Reno (1927 - 1984)

Donald Wesley Reno Bluegrass Musician. He was playing for the local radio station by the time he turned 12, by 14 he was working with the Morris Brothers who introduced Don to a type of bluegrass music termed “mountain music,” that was quickly gaining popularity. Bill Monroe was impressed by Reno and asked him to […]

Donna Douglas (1932 - 2015)

Donna Douglas American Actress. Douglas, who grew up in Baton Rouge, will best be remembered for her role as Elly May Clampett in the 1960s CBS television series, ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’. Born Doris Smith, she attended a Catholic High School where she was active in sports. In 1957, she was named “Miss Baton Rouge” and […]

Donna Reed (1921 - 1986)

Donna Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger on a farm near Denison, Iowa, the daughter of Hazel Jane (née Shives; 1899–1975) and William Richard Mullenger (1893–1981). The eldest of five children, she was raised as a Methodist. After graduating from Denison High School, Reed planned to become a teacher, but was unable to pay for […]

Donna Summer (1948 - 2012)

LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), known by her stage name, Donna Summer, was an American singer, songwriter, and painter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the late 1970s. A five-time Grammy Award winner, she was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on […]

Dore Schary (1905 - 1980)

Schary had his first success as a writer when a play he wrote, Too Many Heroes, ran on Broadway for 16 performances in the fall of 1937. He worked in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and in 1938 won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story as co-writer of the screenplay for Boys Town. From 1942 […]

Dorian Leigh (1917 - 2008)

Dorian Leigh Parker was born in San Antonio, Texas, to George and Elizabeth Parker. Her parents married when they were around 17 or 18 years old and Elizabeth promptly gave birth to three daughters in quick succession: Dorian (1917–2008), Florian (Cissie) (1918–2010), and Georgiabell. Thirteen years after the birth of her last daughter, Elizabeth thought […]

Doris Dowling (1923 - 2004)

Doris Dowling (May 15, 1923 – June 18, 2004) was an American actress of film, stage and television. After her time as a chorus-girl on Broadway, Detroit-born Doris Dowling followed her elder sister Constance to Hollywood. Her first credited film role was that of Gloria, barfly and drinking companion to fellow alcoholic Ray Milland in the […]

Doris Duke (1912 - 1993)

Duke was the only child of tobacco and hydroelectric power tycoon James Buchanan Duke and his second wife, Nanaline Holt Inman, widow of Dr. William Patterson Inman. At his death in 1925, the elder Duke’s will bequeathed the majority of his estate to his wife and daughter, along with $17,000,000, in two separate clauses of […]

Doris Kenyon (1897 - 1979)

Doris Kenyon grew up in Syracuse, New York, where her family had a home at 1805 Harrison Street. Her father, Dr. James B. Kenyon, was a Methodist Episcopal Church minister at University Church. Kenyon studied at Packer College Institute and later at Columbia University. She sang in the choirs of Grace Presbyterian and Bushwick Methodist […]

Doris Lessing (1919 - 2013)

Lessing was born in Kermanshah, Persia (now Iran), on 22 October 1919, to Captain Alfred Tayler and Emily Maude Tayler (née McVeagh), both British subjects. Her father, who had lost a leg during his service in World War I, met his future wife, a nurse, at the Royal Free Hospital where he was recovering from […]

Doris Packer (1904 - 1979)

Doris Packer was born Doris Edwards in Menominee in Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her family moved to southern California when she was quite young. She became interested in acting while in high school. After attending the University of California at Los Angeles, she moved to New York City to study under […]

Doris Singleton (1919 - 2012)

Doris Singleton Dorthea “Doris” Singleton (September 28, 1919 – June 26, 2012) Early life and career Singleton, born in New York City, trained as a classical ballerina, dancing for three seasons in the mid-1930s with the newly formed “Ballet Theatre”, later to become the American Ballet Theatre. She began her career in show business as […]