Jack Donohue

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John Francis "Jack" Donohue (born November 3, 1908 in Brooklyn , New York City , United States , † March 27, 1984 in Marina del Rey , California , United States) was an American show dancer, choreographer, screenwriter, musical director , Television producer and stage, film and television director.

Live and act

Donohue was on stage from a very young age and was a dancer in the Ziegfeld Broadway show Ziegfeld Follies of 1920 at the New Amsterdam Theater around 1920 . This was followed by other dance interludes for Ziegfeld performances, but in the early 1930s Donohue worked primarily as a choreographer in show presentations such as Fast and Furious (1931), A Little Racketeer (1932) and Shady Lady (1933). He then followed a call to Hollywood, where Donohue worked as a small actor in films since 1935 and taught Eleanor Powell and Shirley Temple certain dance steps such as tap dancing for some of their productions . In 1936 the accomplished dancer received a leading role in a film in England (in the Tap Dance flick Rhythm in the Air ). In the same year his play Son o 'Guns (in Germany: Heiliges Kanonenrohr ) was filmed with Joe E. Brown . Jack Donohue also sporadically designed pieces of music for films (for example in 1954 for Ein neue Stern am Himmel ) and worked as a screenwriter.

Donohue also returned to Broadway again and again later and took care of the staging of the musical numbers for music revues and comedies such as Seven Lively Arts (1944/1945), Are You With It? (1945/46), Top Banana (1951/52) and Of Thee I Sing (1952). When Mr. Wonderful (1956/57) and Rumple Jack Donohue took over the complete Director (1957). By this time, the native New Yorker had long since made his film debut. His first film, Close-Up , was distinguished by a special feature: it was shot exclusively in Donohue's hometown in 1948. Two standard Hollywood fun games with Red Skelton followed in 1950 , before Donohue met Frank Sinatra that same year . This hired Donohue as the director of his television series The Frank Sinatra Show (1950/51). This collaboration worked so well that in the mid-1960s Donohue was also allowed to direct two movies starring Sinatra: the comedy Three Times to Mexico and the ship's thriller Assault on Queen Mary .

In addition, Donohue shot in his decades-long career with Doris Day ( The blonde happiness ) and several TV shows again with Red Skelton. Donohue's other productions for film and television are of secondary importance. His main field of activity remained the television personality show with American show greats such as Dean Martin , Mickey Rooney , Sandy Duncan , Don Knotts , Paul Lynde and Lucille Ball . Donohue had also produced several of these shows (including a special with Dick Van Dyke that earned Donohue a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1967 ). In 1980 there was another collaboration with "Ol 'Blue Eyes" when he made the TV special Sinatra: The First 40 Years with them . In the same year, Jack Donohue retired at the age of 72.

Private

Donohue was married for several years to the ten years older and prematurely deceased dancer and actress Marilyn Miller . From 1936 to 1950 the Norwegian singer and actress Tutta Rolf (1907–1994) was his wife.

Filmography

as a director in film and television (selection):

  • 1948: Close-Up
  • 1950: The Yellow Cab Man
  • 1950: Half-length portrait, please! (Watch the Birdie)
  • 1950–1951: The Frank Sinatra Show (TV series, 30 episodes)
  • 1954: The blonde happiness (Lucky Me)
  • 1954 Red Skelton Revue (TV series, 8 episodes)
  • 1954–1955: The Red Skelton Show (TV series, 6 episodes)
  • 1957–1958: The Frank Sinatra Show (TV series, 19 episodes)
  • 1960: The Mickey Rooney Show (TV special)
  • 1961: Riot in Toyland ( Babes in Toyland )
  • 1961–1962: Margie (TV series, 4 episodes)
  • 1963: March of Dimes Presents: Once Upon a Dime
  • 1964: Mr. and Mrs.
  • 1965: Three times to Mexico (Marriage on the Rocks)
  • 1965: attack on the Queen Mary (Assault on a Queen)
  • 1967: The Don Knotts Special
  • 1962–1968: Oops Lucy! ( The Lucy Show ) (TV series, 107 episodes)
  • 1968–1974: Here's Lucy (TV series, 35 episodes)
  • 1971–1975: Männerwirtschaft (The Odd Couple) (TV series, 14 episodes)
  • 1972–1973: Three Girls and Three Boys (The Brady Bunch) (TV series, three episodes)
  • 1973: Love Thy Neighbor
  • 1974: Lucille Ball: Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
  • 1975: Lucille Ball: Lucy Gets Lucky
  • 1974–1978: Die Zwei von der Gasstelle (Chico and the Man) (TV series, 69 episodes)
  • 1979: Wally Brown (TV series)
  • 1980: Sinatra: The First 40 Years

as a producer on television (selection):

  • 1950–1951: The Frank Sinatra Show
  • 1954–1955: The Red Skelton Show
  • 1957–1958: The George Gobel Show
  • 1960: The May Sides of Mickey Rooney
  • 1963: March of Dimes Presents: Once Upon a Dime
  • 1967: Dick Van Dyke Special
  • 1962–1968: Oops Lucy! ( The Lucy Show )

as an actor (selection):

  • 1935: Our Little Girl
  • 1936: Rhythm in the Air (also co-script)
  • 1936: OHMS
  • 1937: Variety Hour
  • 1938: Keep Smiling
  • 1961: Riot in Toyland ( Babes in Toyland )
  • 1963: Oops Lucy! (two episodes)
  • 1968–1974: Here's Lucy (three episodes)
  • 1974: Win, Place or Steal
  • 1975: Lucille Ball: Lucy Gets Lucky

literature

  • International Motion Picture Almanac 1965, Quigley Publishing Company, New York 1964, p. 73

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jack Donohue in the Internet Broadway Database
  2. ↑ Jack Donohue in the Internet Broadway Database
  3. ↑ Jack Donohue in the Internet Broadway Database

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Donohue, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Donohue, John Francis (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American show dancer, choreographer, screenwriter, film composer, television producer, and stage, film and television director
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City , United States
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1984
Place of death Marina del Rey , California , USA