Don Grady

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don Grady (born June 8, 1944 in San Diego , California - † June 27, 2012 in Thousand Oaks , California) was an American actor , musician and film composer .

Life

Family and education

Grady was born as Don Louis Agrati. His father Lou Agrati was in the US Navy and later became a butcher ; his mother, Mary B. Agrati, née Castellino, worked as a talent scount and acting agent. Grady grew up in Lafayette , California. He first attended Lafayette Elementary School, where he was the student representative. He then briefly went to Stanley Junior High School, then later to Burbank High School. Grady was very gifted musically. As a child he learned the clarinet and accordion ; he taught himself the instruments of bass , guitar and trumpet .

Acting career

At the age of 13 he was hired as a teenager for the American children's and youth broadcast Mickey Mouse Club , where he was one of the main actors ( called Mouseketeers ) in the 1957/1958 season . He was active in the series as an actor, singer and dancer.

From 1960 Grady played the role of Robbie Douglas in the television series My Three Sons . He embodied the middle of three sons of a single widower ( Fred MacMurray ) in a typical American family from the Midwest . Grady's role Robbie, whose life path was featured throughout the series, was 14 years old when the series began. In the 1968/1969 season, Grady's character and her wife Katie became parents of triplets . Grady left the series in 1971 at the end of the series' 11th season; his role character went to Peru as a civil engineer to help build a bridge there. Grady was also seen as a musician in the series. Grady appeared on the series with his own band The Geeefs and also wrote two songs for the series.

In the western series West of Santa Fé he was seen in two episodes in 1959 and 1960: as Jeff Barrows, son of a hairdresser, in the episode The Patsy and as David Chase, brother of the title character Heller Chase, in the episode Heller .

Grady also had a few episode roles and guest roles in various American television series as a teenager and adult , including the television series The Restless Gun (1958/1959; alongside John Payne ), The Betty Hutton Show (1960), Wagon Train ( 1960), The Eleventh Hour (1963), FBI (1970) and Simon & Simon (1983/1984).

Grady made his stage debut in 1974 in St. Louis in the play Love Is a Time of Day by John Patrick . He made his New York theater debut as Jesus in the musical Godspell . Grady's other stage roles included baseball fan Joe Boyd in the musical Damn Yankees and the delivery boy Tony in Sandy Wilson's musical The Boy Friend . He took on the title role in the musical Pippin in 1979 on a US tour.

Career as a musician

After leaving the series My Three Sons , Grady devoted himself to his career as a musician. Together with the musician and song writer Gary Zekley he founded the sunshine pop band The Yellow Balloon , in which he played drums . He later appeared in the genre of folk rock with the formation The Palace Guard ; with the group The Windupwatch Band , with Daryl Dragon as a member, later part of the duo Captain & Tennille , he went to Tiurnee. In 1973 he published his first solo album with his own songs under the title Homegrown at Elektra Recors under the name Don Agrati . Another solo album, Bloomer , followed in 2008.

Grady has worked successfully as a composer and songwriter for film and television, theater and for stage shows.

Among other things, he composed the title song for the television series The Phil Donahue Show , the score for the comedy Switch - Die Frau im Manne (with Ellen Barkin and Jimmy Smits in the leading roles) and the music for the multimedia show EFX , which takes place at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas was shown; the stars in the mid to late 1990s included Michael Crawford , David Cassidy , Tommy Tune and Rick Springfield .

Grady also composed the music for the live stunt shows at Universal Studios in Hollywood and Florida ; his music for The Wild, Wild, Wild West Show ran for over 14 years. He also wrote the music for over 30 Walt Disney - DVDs .

Grady co-wrote the song Keep the Dream Alive , which was recorded by Herbie Hancock , Della Reese and other artists for the "Jazz to End Hunger" project.

Private

Grady was married twice. His first marriage to Julie Boonisar was divorced in 1979. In his second marriage, Grady was married to Virginia "Ginny" Lewsader, whom he married in 1985, until his death. The marriage had two children, a son and a daughter.

Grady died aged 68 at his home in Thousand Oaks to cancer ; his death was preceded by four years of cancer.

Filmography (selection)

As a performer

  • 1957–1958: Mickey Mouse Club (The Adventures of Spin and Marty)
  • 1958: The Ann Sothern Show (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1958–1959: The Restless Gun (TV series, 3 episodes)
  • 1958–1959: West of Santa Fé (The Rifleman) (TV series, 2 episodes)
  • 1959: Buckskin (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1959: Wichita Town (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1960: The Betty Hutton Show
  • 1960-1971: My Three Sons (My Three Sons) (TV Series)
  • 1960: Wagon Train (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1963: The Eleventh Hour (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1970: FBI (The FBI) (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1971: After the Honeymoon
  • 1975: The Wild McCullochs
  • 1983–1984: Simon & Simon (TV series, 2 episodes)

As a film composer

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Don Grady Biography (1944-) Short biography and list of roles
  2. ↑ a b c d e Don Grady dies at 68; Mouseketeer, 'My Three Sons' star obituary in: Los Angeles Times ; June 28, 2012
  3. ↑ a b c d e Don Grady, One of TV's 'My Three Sons,' Dies at 68 - Obituary in: The Hollywood Reporter, June 27, 2012
  4. ↑ Don Grady The Rifleman (photos of Don Grady)
personal data
SURNAME Grady, Don
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Agrati, Don Louis (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor, musician and film composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH San Diego , California, United States
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 2012
Place of death Thousand Oaks , California, United States