{{Short description|American child actor (1933–2023)}} {{Infobox person | name = Ted Donaldson | image = Adventures-of-Rusty.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = Donaldson (center) with Conrad Nagel and Margaret Lindsay in ''Adventures of Rusty'' (1945) | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1933|8|20}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|3|1|1933|8|20}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | othername = | occupation = Actor | yearsactive = 1937–1976 | spouse = | domesticpartner = | website = }}

'''Ted Donaldson''' (August 20, 1933 – March 1, 2023) was an American actor.

==Early years== Born in Brooklyn, New York, Donaldson was the son of singer-composer Will Donaldson and Josephine M. Donaldson ''née'' Plant. His mother died when he was {{frac|4|1|2}} months old.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1933-12-28 |title=Josephine M. Donaldson (nee Plant) obituary. |pages=11 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120785301/josephine-m-donaldson-nee-plant/ |access-date=2023-03-13}}</ref> His stepmother was radio organist and composer Muriel Pollock.<ref name="gs">{{cite book|last1=Goldrup|first1=Tom|last2=Goldrup|first2=Jim|title=Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Classic Film and Television|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786412549|pages=57–66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9quzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|accessdate=2 November 2016|language=en}}</ref> He attended the Professional Children's School in New York City.<ref name="ci"/>

[[File:A-Tree-Grows-in-Brooklyn.jpg|215px|left|upright|thumb|Peggy Ann Garner and Ted Donaldson in ''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' (1945)]]

==Career== Donaldson began his acting career in December 1937 when he appeared in an NBC radio show.<ref name="ci">{{cite journal|last1=Collura|first1=Joe|title=Ted Donaldson: A Natural|journal=Classic Images|date=September 2016|issue=495|pages=76–81}}</ref> In 1941, he played Tiny Tim in a week-long serialized version of Dickens' ''A Christmas Carol'' that was presented on ''Wheatena Playhouse''.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=December 15, 1941 |title=Holiday Serial |url=https://archive.org/stream/broadcasting21unse#page/n1473/mode/1up |magazine=Broadcasting |page=28 |access-date=2016-06-12 }}</ref>

As an 8-year-old, Donaldson portrayed Harlan in the Broadway stage production of ''Life With Father''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pop's New Boys |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22439244/daily_news/ |work=Daily News |date=March 29, 1941 |location=New York |page=21 B|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 2, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> In 1943, he performed alongside Gregory Peck in the play ''Sons and Soldiers''.<ref name="gs"/>

The performance led to a starring role as Arthur "Pinky" Thompson in his first movie, ''Once Upon a Time'' (1944), opposite Cary Grant and Janet Blair. Columbia Pictures put him under contract after the film was finished. In 1945, Donaldson was cast in ''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'', which marked the directorial debut of Elia Kazan.<ref name="gs" /> Donaldson also starred as Danny Mitchell in the 1940s ''Rusty'' series of eight films about a German Shepherd dog.<ref name="gs"/>

From 1949 to 1954, he played Bud, the son of Robert Young's character in the radio version of ''Father Knows Best''.<ref name="Dunning">{{cite book | last=Dunning |first=John |authorlink=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |date=1998 | title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Father+Knows+Best,+situation+comedy%22+%22Ted+Donaldson+as+their+son+Bud%22&pg=PA243 |pages=243–244 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-10-07 }}</ref> He was offered the same role on the television version of the series, but turned it down, saying, "I didn't want to be typed. I didn't want to be a 21-year-old playing a 15- or 16-year-old kid. I wanted to do other things."<ref name="gs" /> As an adult, he recalled that as "one of the two or three most stupid things I have not done because not only would the salary have been very nice for five years, but the residuals would have also."<ref name="gs" />

He retired from acting in 1976.

As an adult, Donaldson worked as an acting teacher and a bookseller.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=2023-03-03 |title=Ted Donaldson, Young Actor in 'Father Knows Best' and 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,' Dies at 89 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ted-donaldson-dead-father-knows-best-tree-grows-in-brooklyn-1235340464/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> In his later years, Donaldson gave a number of interviews about his film career.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1YQ5cUMoN0 Interview with Ted Donaldson from 2019] at YouTube</ref>

In January 2023, Donaldson suffered a fall in his Echo Park apartment. He died of complications from the fall on March 1, 2023, at the age of 89.<ref name=":0" />

==Filmography== {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} *''Once Upon a Time'' (1944) as Arthur "Pinky" Thompson *''Mr. Winkle Goes to War'' (1944) as Barry *''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' (1945) as Neeley Nolan *''A Guy, a Gal and a Pal'' (1945) *''Adventures of Rusty'' (1945) as Danny Mitchell *''The Return of Rusty'' (1946) *''Personality Kid'' (1946) *''For the Love of Rusty'' (1947) as Danny Mitchell *''The Son of Rusty'' (1947) *''The Red Stallion'' (1947) as Joel Curtis *''My Pal'' (1947) *''Pal's Adventure'' (1948) *''My Dog Rusty'' (1948) *''Rusty Leads the Way'' (1948) *''The Decision of Christopher Blake'' (1948) *''Rusty Saves a Life'' (1949) *''The Green Promise'' (1949) as Phineas Matthews *''Rusty's Birthday'' (1949) *''Phone Call from a Stranger'' (1952) *''Flight Nurse'' (1953) (uncredited) *''Wiggle Your Ears'' (1956) (uncredited) {{div col end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== * Holmstrom, John (1996). ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich: Michael Russell, pp.&nbsp;184–185. * Best, Marc (1971). ''Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen''. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co. pp.&nbsp;74–79.

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0232159}} *{{discogs artist|Ted Donaldson}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Ted}} Category:1933 births Category:2023 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Male actors from Brooklyn Category:American male child actors Category:American male film actors Category:American male radio actors Category:Accidental deaths from falls in the United States Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery