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.
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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 which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

. He graduated from the

Professional Children's School The Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college-preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades four through twelve. The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an ac ...

in New York in 1936.

Radio

Donald first appeared on radio in 1927, playing Tiny Tim in a production of ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''. At age 11, he was the announcer for ''Uncle Olie and His Kne-Mel Gang'' on

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

. He became an announcer on CBS in 1931. He portrayed 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 forw ...

'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 The Stage Door Canteen was an entertainment venue for American and Allied servicemen that operated in the Broadway theatre district of New York City throughout World War II. Founded by the American Theatre Wing (ATW) in 1942, the entertainers w ...

'', 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?'' 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. Donald had a transcribed program on WINS radio in New York City in 1947. Stanback sponsored the show, which included the Three Flames instrumental group. The same recording was broadcast at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time and at 10 p.m. E. T.

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 Stre ...

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

The Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' is 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 serie ...

'', ''

The NBC Comedy Hour ''The NBC Comedy Hour'' was a comedy show that ran on NBC January 8, 1956 - June 10, 1956, as a replacement for ''The Colgate Comedy Hour''. Background Robert Welch developed the series, which originally was called ''New Comedy Hour''. He expres ...

'') 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 1947–59, it was one of the few television series – along with ...

'', ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

'', ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

''). 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'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'' 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'' is 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 commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television network on September 14, 1948. At the show's closing he announced that

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over eight decades, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and ...

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 and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954) ...

'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 The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

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 Male actors from Bristol