Don Oreck
Don Oreck (Donald Allen Oreck: August 31, 1930 — March 5, 2006) was an American actor who, between 1955 and 1961, played supporting roles in numerous television series and made uncredited appearances in a few feature films.
Don Oreck | |
---|---|
Born | Donald Allen Oreck August 31, 1930 Los Angeles, California, US |
Died | March 5, 2006 75) Los Angeles, California, US | (aged
Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
Occupation | Film, television actor |
Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Powell
( m. 1958; div. 1971) |
Children | 2 |
A native of Los Angeles, California, Oreck became a member of the Los Angeles Police Department following a stint in the United States Army. While continuing his service with law enforcement, he began taking small acting assignments, which gradually increased in importance until, in the late 1950s, he could be spotted in various installments of television programs.
In 1959, Oreck portrayed the lead in the episode "Gringo Pete" of Rex Allen's syndicated western series, Frontier Doctor. In the story line, Gringo Pete is an outlaw who pledges to surrender his gang in exchange for parole. Instead, he resumes his life of lawlessness and dares the authorities.
Personal life
In 1955, Oreck married 20-year-old Joanna Moore who, after their divorce in 1957, became a well-known movie and TV actress who later married Ryan O'Neal. His second marriage, to Tulsa-born Mary Ann Powell (born August 19, 1930), lasted from 1958 to 1971 and produced two children, Kevin Robert and Elizabeth Diane.[1]
Don Oreck died in Los Angeles at the age of seventy-five of a degenerative brain disease.
Selected filmography
- 1951 short film Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen
- 1955 film Target Zero
- 1956 episode of Studio 57
- 1956 episode of The West Point Story
- 1958 episode of State Trooper
- 1959 episode of M Squad
- 1958 episode of Sea Hunt
- 1959 episode of Men into Space
- 1960 episode of Checkmate
- 1961 episode of Bonanza
References
- "Obituary: Donald Allen Oreck". Los Angeles Times. 2006-03-08. Retrieved 2018-07-13.