Don Defore

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Donald John DeFore (August 25, 1913 – December 22, 1993) was an American actor.

He is best known for his appearances on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1952 to 1957 and Hazel's 1965-1960, the latter of which received him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Early life

DeFore was one of seven children born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Joseph Ervin, a railroad engineer for the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, as well as a local politician, and Albina Sylvia DeFore (née Nezerka). Albina, a Czech immigrant from the former Podobrady district, was a regular performer at their local church. Jan Neerka (1846-1928) was born in Psková Lhota (baptized Catholic in Kosteln) and her mother Marie Najbrtová (1852-1930) was born in Chvrtová (baptized Evangelical in Hotev).

DeFore attended the University of Iowa after graduating from Washington High School in Cedar Rapids. He started studying law while also playing basketball, track, and baseball before becoming involved in acting. Since acting was not a major research at the university, he enrolled in the Pasadena Community Playhouse, where he earned a scholarship and stayed for three years.

Personal life

Marion Holmes, a DeFore married singer, died on February 14, 1942 (January 21, 1918 - November 17, 2011). Judy Garland was Holmes' matron of honor. Holmes appeared with the Henry Busse Orchestra from 1935 to 1939, as well as Art Kassel's "Castles in the Air" from 1939 to marriage. They had five children: Penny, David, Dawn, Ron, and Autumn. They were married before DeFore's death in 1993.

DeFore and his family were long-time residents of Brentwood's Mandeville Canyon section and attended the Village Church of Westwood Lutheran. DeFore served as Brentwood's honorary mayor and also served as a member of the California Department of Rehabilitation's advisory committee. DeFore was also a 33-degree Freemason.

DeFore and his family owned the Silver Banjo Barbecue, a restaurant located in Anaheim, California, from 1957 to 1962. DeFore was the American delegate to the Moscow International Film Festival in July 1969.

DeFore, a long-serving Republican, voted for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election and was a delegate to the 1976 and 1980 Republican National Conventions. Ronald Reagan, the former president of the United States, and 40th President of the United States, has been appointed to the Peace Corps' Presidential Advisory Council. Ron, his youngest son, served in the Reagan administration, which he also discusses in his book, "Growing Up in Disneyland," Waldorf Publishing, 2019, both an autobiography and partial biography of his father.

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Career

Four fellow students and I wrote a play called Where Does the Go From Here? during this period. It was presented in a little theater in Hollywood with DeFore in the cast. DeFore, a young man, worked in stock firms for many years before he made his Broadway debut in Where Do We Go From Here? In 1938, when Oscar Hammerstein II offered to take it to Broadway, DeFore and five of the original cast members followed along. DeFore was soon named as a member of a legitimate theater company after the show ran for four weeks. He stayed in New York and gained a leading part in The Male Animator, which ran for nearly eight months on Broadway and eight months on the road.

DeFore's first screen appearance in Hollywood was in 1936's Reunion. He was in films like: The Male Animal (1942), A Guy Named Joe (1944), Without Reservations (1946), and Jumping Jacks (1952). Exhibitionists named him as the fourth-most awaited "star of tomorrow" in 1946.

DeFore has worked in radio, appearing on such programs as Suspense, Old Gold Comedy Theater, and Lux Radio Theatre, but he is best known for his television work. DeFore appeared on ABC's Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1952 as the Nelsons' friendly neighbor, "Thorny," receiving a nomination in 1955 for a Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series Primetime Emmy Award. Thorny's role was superseded by Lyle Talbot's as Joe Randolph, and Mary Jane Croft as his wife Clara in time.

He served as president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences from 1954 to 1955. On March 7, 1955, he was instrumental in arranging for the Emmy Awards to be broadcast on national television for the first time. He has also served on the board of the Screen Actors Guild.

DeFore appeared in the Saturday Evening Post as George Baxter, the employer of the spirited, domineering housekeeper Hazel Burke, from 1961 to 1965. DeFore was not the first actor to play George Baxter. Edward Andrews, a character actor, appeared in the pilot episode. When the show was on, DeFore assumed the role. The series remained on prime time until 1966, when it was canceled by NBC. When CBS picked up the series for its final season, DeFore and his co-star Whitney Blake were left out of the film.

In 1970, DeFore appeared as Mayor Evans on the television show "Man from Shiloh" as part of "Colonel Mackenzie Versus the West." He portrayed a murderer in that role, which was a major change from the comedy roles for which he was most well known on The Adventures of Ozzie, Harriet, and Hazel.

Don DeFore, a film actor, appears on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located on 6804 Hollywood Blvd., for his contributions to the television industry.

With All My Love, a book about Penny's time spent in a Korean orphanage, was published in 1965 by DeFore and his son Penny. DeFore's memoirs, "Hollywood DeFore" and "Hollywood After" were never published, but Ron DeFore's youngest son, Ron, did include portions of his book, "Growing Up in Disneyland, Waldorf Publishing 2019, as well as his own biography. The title was a metaphor for his celebrity life, but it was also true because his father was the only one to own a food establishment in Frontierland named "Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue" in 1959.

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