Don DeFore

His father was Joseph Ervin DeFore (1878 - 1942), a railroad engineer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His mother was Albina Sylvia Nezerka (1883 - 1975), aka Mrs. Joseph E. DeFore.

According to the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Tribune of December 25, 1936, he appeared uncredited in the film Reunion (1936).

Went to Des Moines, Iowa in June 1976 to campaign for his longtime friend Ronald Reagan at the Republican State Convention in his bid for President of the United States. DeFore appeared in at least two films with Reagan, Brother Rat (1938) and She's Working Her Way Through College (1952).

Won a scholarship and studied for three years at the famed Pasadena Playhouse. Oscar Hammerstein II saw him in a student produced show "Where Do We Go From Here?" in 1938 and brought it to Broadway, where it had a brief run.

Created the role of Wally Myers in the Broadway play "The Male Animal", which opened at the Cort Theatre on January 9, 1940 and ran for 243 performances. He later played the same role in the film version The Male Animal (1942) starring Olivia de Havilland and Henry Fonda. He also appeared in the remake of that film, She's Working Her Way Through College (1952) starring Virginia Mayo and Ronald Reagan.

Was the first honorary mayor of Brentwood, the neighborhood in Los Angeles where he built a home in 1948.

In 1949, Photoplay Magazine sent DeFore, actor Lon McCallister and a then-unknown Marilyn Monroe on a train trip to Warrensburg, New York to present Photoplay's "Dream Home" contest winner with the key to her new home. Surviving photos dated June 1, 1949 show Don DeFore playing cards with Marilyn on the train trip, and also in front of the home during the event. When Photoplay recruited the group for this, Marilyn Monroe had been in New York to promote her new film Love Happy (1949). It is believed that Don DeFore was in New York to shoot My Friend Irma (1949), the film debut of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Served as president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences from 1954-1955 and was instrumental in arranging for the Emmy Awards to be broadcast on national TV for the first time on March 7, 1955.

He was the only individual allowed to open a restaurant at Disneyland. He operated the Silver Banjo in Frontierland from 1957 to 1961. His brother Verne DeFore helped him, and they used a gift that their father, a railroad engineer, had brought home from Louisiana - a beautiful silver banjo - as the tiny restaurant's inspiration.

In 1961, he starred in a unsold pilot for CBS called "Daddy O" where he played a handyman who, after being discovered by a producer, suddenly must cope with the new-found fame that comes with TV stardom.

Appeared on the cover of the 6 October 1962 issue of "TV Guide" with Shirley Booth, his costar on the TV series "Hazel" (1961).

Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6804 Hollywood Blvd.