He grew up in Lafayette, California and attended Stanley Junior High, where he spent only a few months before being signed by Disney. His acting credits included several Western series: The Restless Gun, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, Wagon Train and The Rifleman, where he played a young man whose vocal cords were severed by Indians. He also had a role in the NBC medical drama, The Eleventh Hour.
He also played the middle brother on My Three Sons, he became the older brother with the departure of Mike, Tim Considine, who had earlier performed with Grady in The New Adventures of Spin and Marty, and the adoption of Ernie (Barry Livingston), who became the new "third son." During production of My Three Sons, Grady both performed with his own band The Greefs on the series, and was the drummer for The Yellow Balloon, whose self-titled song became a minor hit during 1967.
After My Three Sons ended in 1972, Grady pursued a musical career. His works included music for the Blake Edwards comedy film Switch, the theme song for The Phil Donahue Show and for EFX, a Las Vegas multimedia stage show which starred Michael Crawford, David Cassidy, Tommy Tune, and Rick Springfield. In the fall of 2008, Grady released Boomer: JazRokPop, a collection of songs written for and about the baby boomer generation. Boomer was his first original album as an artist since Homegrown was released by Elektra Records in 1973.
Grady married Virginia "Ginny" Lewsader in 1985, having met her at Disneyland. The couple were married until his death. They had two children, Joey and Tessa. Grady died of cancer June 27, 2012, in Thousand Oaks, California, just 19 days after his 68th birthday.
I always thought of "My Three Sons" as "my" show, and the news of Don's passing made me truly sad.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago the cast reunited on the CBS morning show and it was a pleasure to see such well-adjusted adults with great senses of humor.
"My Three Sons", was also one my favorite shows growing up. I was sad to hear of Don's passing.
ReplyDeleteI missed the CBS morning show, but I noticed that the video is posted up on you-tube, if you would like to re-watch.
I did not, at first, make the connection between the face and the name. Although I did not grow-up with the Musketeers or "My Three Sons", I became aware of both in reruns. I was unaware that Don Grady was among those who wore a pair of mouse ears, but I certainly remember him as Robbie Douglas. I'm surprised, and a bit sadden, that I haven't heard a single mention of his passing before reading your post.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame, that it was not better reported. I was very surprised when I came across the sad news while watching a rerun of my "My Three Sons", over the week-end.
ReplyDelete