Don Keefer

Donald H. "Don" Keefer
Born August 18, 1916 (1916-08-18) (age 95)
Highspire, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA
Residence Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles County, California
Occupation Actor
Spouse Catherine McLeod Keefer (married 1950-97, her death)
Children Donald McLeod Keefer,
John H. Keefer,
Thomas James Keefer

Donald "Don" H. Keefer (born August 18, 1916) is a retired American actor known for the versatility of his roles. He was born in Highspire in Dauphin County near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Keefer's first role was as Bernard in the 1951 film, Death of a Salesman, based on the Arthur Miller play. His longest-lasting roles were in ten episodes each of the CBS series, Gunsmoke, starring James Arness, and Angel, a 1960-1961 sitcom featuring French-American actress Annie Fargé.[1]

Contents

Early roles

Keefer appeared in dozens of television series, including the early anthologies, Fireside Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, the United States Steel Hour, Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, and The DuPont Show with June Allyson. In 1957, Keefer appeared as McNair in the episode "Ito of Attu" of ABC Navy Log. That same year, he appeared with David Janssen as the character "Reagan" in "Big Score" of the CBS series, Richard Diamond, Private Detective. In 1958, he appeared as Ed Locke in the episode "Wild Green Yonder" of the syndicated crime drama State Trooper, starring Rod Cameron. In 1959, Keefer appeared as John Alastair in the episode "Death Is a Red Rose" of the Craig Stevens NBC crime drama Peter Gunn. Keefer was cast three times on CBS's anthology, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as Dr. Elkins in "The Indestructible Mr. Weems" (1957), as Pete Williams in "The Percentage" (1958), and as a tax clerk in "The Kiss-Off" (1961).[1]

Western roles

Keefer's Gunsmoke appearances included three half-hour episodes and seven full hour broadcasts which aired from 1957-1973:

Keefer appeared in more than a dozen other western series:

Angel and other comedies

On Angel, Keefer portrayed the neighbor "George", husband of "Susie", a character played by Doris Singleton (born 1919), a veteran of the original I Love Lucy series. Marshall Thompson (1925–1992) played Johnny Smith, a young architect and the husband of Fargé's Angel Smith character. Keefer's Angel roles include:

Keefer appeared in other sitcoms, including:

Dramatic episodes

Keefer appeared as Cromwell in the 1968 episode "Assignment: Earth" of the NBC science fiction series Star Trek. Earlier, he was cast in three episodes of CBS's The Twilight Zone: as Dan Hollis in "It's a Good Life" (1961), as Spiereto in "Passage on the Lady Anne" (1963), and Fred Danziger in "From Agnes - With Love" (1964).[1]

His other drama roles include:

Keefer's last role was as a beggar at a courthouse in the 1997 film Liar Liar.[1]

Family

On May 7, 1950, Keefer married the former Catherine McLeod (July 2, 1921—May 11, 1997), formerly of Texas. At the time of her death, the Keefers were living in Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California.[2] There are three Keefer sons, Donald McLeod, John H., and Thomas James.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Don Keefer". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0444411/. Retrieved March 31, 2009. 
  2. ^ "Social Security Death Index". Rootsweb.ancestry.com. http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi. Retrieved March 31, 2009. 
  3. ^ Internet: People Search, Background Check

External links