Donald O'Connor

He left his wife, Gloria, and four children. Soon afterwards he died of cerebral thrombosis. Among his last words, he is reported to have expressed thanks for the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement which he expected to win at some future date. His last public appearance was in 1974 as a guest in the TV show Milleluci hosted by Mina and Raffaella Carrā. O'Connor was still making public appearances well into 2003. He performed in musical reviews and commedies by Garinei and Giovannini. After overcoming a drinking problem in the 1970s, he continued to make film and television appearances into the 1990s. Rabagliati was active also on the stage until mid 1950s.

When the heyday of the film musical was over, O'Connor returned to the stage, and had a short-lived television series during the late 1960s. From 1940 to 1965 he starred in some twenty movies, including The Barefoot Contessa, Montecarlo, Il Vedovo. During World War II, he was re-invented as a star of musical films. His enormous fame as a singer helped his acting career restart. However, he did have a separate Hollywood career in the late 1930s, in which he played such incongruous roles as Beau Geste. Indeed, the Fascist government decided to make use of his popularity by choosing his song Sposi (c'č una casetta piccina) ("Wed (there's a little home)") as their demographic campaign anthem. His boyish looks did not allow him to take a romantic lead, except when appearing with a bigger star such as Ethel Merman (in Call Me Madam) or Bing Crosby (with whom he appeared in his first film at the age of eleven). At a time when anything foreign was banned, the idol Rabagliati was allowed to maintain his American-influenced style.

Yet it was as a comedy actor and a song-and-dance man that he became famous. Female audience went crazy for him, and covered him with red roses at every performance. His father died of a heart attack only a few weeks later. He was so popular that his name was sung in the lyrics of La famiglia canterina, Quando canta Rabagliati, Quando la radio. As a toddler, he and his sister were involved in a road accident, which resulted in her death. Every Monday night EIAR aired Canta Rabagliati ("Rabagliati sings"), with the singer presenting his most famous songs such as Ma l'amore no, Mattinata fiorentina, Ba-ba-baciami piccina, Silenzioso slow, Bambina innamorata. O'Connor was born into an Irish immigrant family of vaudeville entertainers. Rabagliati soon became a radio star, and in 1941 even had his own radio show.

He is still best known for his performance in the movie musical Singing in the Rain. While with the Lecuona Cuban Boys he met Giovanni D'Anzi who proposed him an audition with Italian state radio station EIAR. Donald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 - September 27, 2003) was a singer, dancer and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred with Francis, the talking mule. He performed with his face painted black and made a hit with the song Maria la O. Out to Sea - 1997. After a brief experience with Pippo Barzizza's orchestra, he joined the Lecuona Cuban Boys, a Cuban band. Father Frost - 1996. Back in Europe he became a singer.

Bandit: Bandit's Silver Angel - 1994 (made for television). During his stay he had however the opportunity to get to know new musical genres such as jazz, swing, scat. Toys - 1992. He remained four years in America, but his career as an actor never took off. A Time to Remember - 1987. He later recalled: "For someone like me, who had seen no more than Lake Como or Monza's cathedral so far, finding myself on board a luxury steamer with three cases full of clothes, a few rolls of dollars, granduchesses and countesses flirting with me was something extraordinary". Alice in Wonderland - 1985 (made for television). In 1927 Alberto Rabagliati moved to Hollywood from native Italy as the winner of a Rudolph Valentino look-alike contest.

Alice in Wonderland - 1983 (made for television).
. Pandemonium - 1982.
. Ragtime - 1981. Alberto Rabagliati (Milan, 26 June 1906 - Rome, 7 March 1974) was Italy's first pop star. The Donald O'Connor Show - 1968 (television series).

That Funny Feeling - 1965. Le Meraviglie di Aladino - 1961. Cry for Happy - 1961. The Buster Keaton Story - 1957.

Anything Goes - 1956. Francis in the Navy - 1955. There's No Business Like Show Business - 1954. Francis Joins the WACS - 1954.

Walking My Baby Back Home - 1953. Francis Covers the Big Town - 1953. Call Me Madam - 1953. I Love Melvin - 1953.

Francis Goes to West Point - 1952. Singin' in the Rain - 1952. Francis Goes to the Races - 1951. Double Crossbones - 1951.

The Milkman - 1950. Curtain Call at Cactus Creek - 1950. Francis - 1950 - first of the "talking mule" movies. Yes Sir That's My Baby - 1949.

Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin - 1948. Are You with It? - 1948. Something in the Wind - 1947. Patrick the Great - 1945.

Bowery to Broadway - 1944. The Merry Monahans - 1944. This Is the Life - 1944. Chip Off the Old Block - 1944.

Top Man - 1943. Mister Big - 1943. It Comes Up Love - 1943. When Johnny Comes Marching Home - 1942.

Get Hep to Love - 1942. Give Out, Sisters - 1942. Private Buckaroo - 1942. What's Cookin'? - 1942.

Night Work - 1939. On Your Toes - 1939. Death of a Champion - 1939. Beau Geste - 1939.

Million Dollar Legs - 1939. Unmarried - 1939. Boy Trouble - 1939. Tom Sawyer, Detective - 1938.

Sons of the Legion - 1938. Sing You Sinners - 1938. Men with Wings - 1938. It Can't Last Forever - 1937.