Ted Donaldson was born on April 20 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was composer Will Donaldson. His mother, Jo, died when he was only a few months old. His father later remarried, marrying composer and radio organist Muriel Pollack. Ted Donaldson attended the Professional Children's School in New York City. It was in 1941 that he joined the Broadway production Life With Father, playing the youngest son Harlan. That same year he appeared on radio in a week-long, serialized adaptation of A Christmas Carol, playing Tiny Tim. In 1943 he was back on Broadway, appearing in Sons and Soldiers, directed by Max Reinhardt.
It was his appearance in Sons and Soldiers that led to an audition with Columbia head Harry Cohn for the role of Arthur "Pinky" Thompson in Once Upon a Time (1944). Ted Donaldson then made his film debut in Once Upon a Time, in which his character taught his pet caterpillar to dance to "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." He appeared in the movies Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), and A Guy, a Gal and a Paul (1945) before starring as Danny Mitchell, the boy who befriends the German Shepherd Rusty in The Adventures of Rusty (1945). He would appear as Danny Mitchell in seven more "Rusty" movies: The Return of Rusty (1946), For the Love of Rusty (1947), The Son of Rusty (1947), My Dog Rusty (1948), Rusty Lead the Way (1948), Rusty Saves a Life (1949), and Rusty's Birthday (1949). In the late Forties he also appeared in the films Personality Kid (1946), The Red Stallion (1947), The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948), and The Green Promise (1949). He also appeared in two shorts, "My Pal" (1947) and "Pal's Adventure" (1948). In 1949 he began playing the role of Bud Anderson on the radio show Father Knows Best. He continued to play the role until 1954. He was offered the role of Bud in the television version of Father Knows Best, but turned it down because, as he said in the book Growing Up on the Set, "I didn’t want to be a 21-year-old playing a 15- or 16-year-old kid."
In the Fifties he appeared in the films Phone Call from a Stranger (!952) and Flight Nurse (1953). He spent most of the decade on television, appearing on the shows Front Row Center, Matinee Theatre, and The Silent Service.
As an adult Ted Donaldson taught acting and also worked at a bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard.
Ted Donaldson was a remarkable child actor. His performances were always sincere. He was never overly cloying nor overly precocious. He was also quite versatile. He played Neeley, the fun-loving but ultimately responsible younger brother in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. He later played a boy caught in the middle of a divorce, the title character in The Decision of Christopher Blake. He played another child troubled by his parents' behaviour in Phone Call from a Stranger. Ted Donaldson certainly seemed to have a gift for working with animals. Aside from the "Rusty" series, he also worked with a burro in Personality Kid and a horse in The Red Stallion. Ultimately, Ted Donaldson was one of the best child actors of all time.
As mentioned above, Ted Donaldson appeared many TCM Classic Film Festivals. He also granted many interviews over the years about his career. While I never interacted with Mr. Donaldson, I know people who got to meet him and even those who counted him among their close friends. All of them have spoken of his approachability and kindness. It is not unusual to hear the words "darling" and "sweetheart" when TCM fans speak of Ted Donaldson. Ted Donaldson was a total gentleman, and TCM fans adored him for it.
Sadly, Ted Donaldson died with little in the way of possessions or money. His friends Thomas and Heidi Bruno have set a GoFundMe page for his burial expenses. They hope to bury him in Hollywood Forever Cemetery alongside so many of his co-stars.
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