Growing Up In Disneyland Second Edition Kindle Edition

Growing up in Disneyland Second Edition is about one of America’s beloved Broadway, movie and TV stars–Don DeFore–whose career spanned six decades, told by son, Ron, who also shares his adventures in a Hollywood celebrity family and beyond. This Second Edition has 25% more content and more than 125 photos. Don DeFore earned a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for his supporting role as “Thorny” in the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet TV series (1952-1957) and played “Mr. B” in the 1960s TV series Hazel which is still in world-wide syndication on vintage TV channels and available on DVD.Don also co-starred in movies with stars like Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Van Johnson, Rock Hudson, Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, John Wayne, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Groucho Marx, Doris Day, Tony Curtis, and many others—all told in Don’s own words from his unpublished manuscript, Hollywood-DeFore and After. DeFore made history as President of the Academy of Television Arts and Science in 1954 when he sold the first national broadcast of the Emmy Awards Show to NBC. He was subsequently voted to serve another term till 1956.Growing Up in Disneyland is a metaphor for Ron's life growing up in a celebrity family filled with Fantasyland adventures he equates to a Forest Gump-type life, from meeting the Beatles, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, and other celebrities as Associate Director of the Steve Allen Show. His nearly 20 careers include a mid-life crisis as the Flying DJ at an L.A. discotheque to political positions within the Reagan Presidential Administration to establishing his own company. The book’s title is also to be taken literally, as Ron spent much of his youth in Disneyland where his father owned "Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue" restaurant in Frontierland (three chapters are dedicated to this unique Disneyland history).Growing Up in Disneyland will be enjoyed by any age group from baby boomers that remember Don DeFore's many beloved acting roles to those that don't but are curious how life was in the good old days, especially growing up in a Hollywood celebrity family. Ron has had so many careers and adventures along the way that listeners will have much to keep them from putting the book down.“Don DeFore was one of those reliable actors who always delivered the goods, on both television and the big screen. I’m not surprised to learn that his peers thought enough of him to vote him President of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.”- Leonard Maltin, American Film Critic and Historian“Don DeFore’s Silver Banjo Barbecue restaurant in Frontierland was very unusual as it was the only food facility in the park to have the name of a living person. Walt obviously was good friends with Don and trusted him to sell a quality product in his park.”- Dave Smith, Chief Archivist Emeritus, The Walt Disney Archives"Don DeFore was an extraordinary talent and played a pioneering role as one of the first straight men in sitcom television. As “Thorny, the ever-supportive neighbor, he helped round out the Nelson household."- Sam Nelson, son of Ricky Nelson and Kris Harmon (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet)“The ‘news’ pitches I got from Ron DeFore were often on the most mundane of subjects. I didn’t mind, as he was Hollywood royalty to me. Judy Garland was matron of honor in his parents’ wedding! His father was ‘Mr. B’ from Hazel!”- Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today Read more