- Born
- Died
- Height1.85 m
- Donald Elson was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, just a "whoop and a holler" from Hollywood. He was a young college student at the outbreak of WWII. After serving in the Air Force, he attended the Columbia Radio School of Broadcasting on the GI Bill and pursued a career as a radio announcer at stations in Texas and Oklahoma before returning to college. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA degree in Theatre Arts in 1949 and headed to New York. Elson became a successful Broadway actor, appearing in "Inherit The Wind," "Desire Under the Elms," "Peter Pan," "Threepenny Opera" and numerous off-Broadway productions. He returned to Hollywood in the early 1960s, "saddling up" in a string of Film and TV Westerns.
His skill and craftsmanship have enabled him to portray a wide variety of characters. Why is that craggy face so "gol'durn" familiar? Because we've seen it a thousand times in movies, television series, anthologies and Movies of the Week as well as countless television commercials.- IMDb mini biography by: Valerie Elson - valerie@elson.com
- SpousesValerie Elson(July 31, 1996 - May 7, 2022) (his death)Annette Robyns(March 30, 1961 - January 21, 1994) (her death)
- Has appeared in more than 200 TV commercials from 1980-present.
- In 2004/05 he and wife Valerie Elson produced a successful interview/variety show for Adelphia public access television in Los Angeles.
- In 2014 he was interviewed for Marco Capalbo's documentary, "Three Penny Opera.".
- In 1980, Donald's friend, actress Shelley Winters, asked him to photograph some of her personal items for publication in her autobiography "SHELLEY Also Known As Shirley." He is given photographic credit on page 511 of the book... and received an autographed copy of the book's first edition. The inscription reads: "To Don, a great friend and photographer. Love, Shelley. PS: For Annette (Donalds wife) - who's always there when needed.".
- Donald and his wife, Valerie, are residents at the Motion Picture Television Fund (MPTF) in Woodland Hills, California.
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