Wow - another group of interested folks! Several people suggested I jump over here from the Hazel forum and join in the chatter. Well, I suspect many of you have questions, so let's have some fun.

It's past my bedtime so I won't write any of the many stories I have right now, but I will say that it is not true that Ozzie fired my Dad because he asked for more money - and certainly not because he would have asked him directly. Our families were close even after my Dad left the show. I have a roll of 8mm film I took of my older sister's wedding reception in our backyard in Brentwood and there are numerous shots of all the Nelsons. That would have been summer of 1963. Also, years later, I visited him several times on the set of "Ozzie's Girls" (I knew the Associate Director as well - she was on the staff of the Steve Allen Show when I was the Associate Director of that show).

Anyway, I'm ready for he questions, fire away.

Ron DeFore www.defore.net

While in the USAF stationed at March AFB, CA (near Riverside), I remember seeing David Nelson, then an Airman Second Class (A/2C) in the Air Force reserves, drive up in his brand new pink Thunderbird convertible in front of the Mess Hall to eat. This was in the summers of 1962/63, I believe. If memory serves me correctly, this was Saturday and Sunday. He used to eat w/one of the Mouskateers, (I believe it was Annette Funicello), also in the AF reserves.

Why do I remember that to this day? Seeing someone drive up in a pink Thunderbird convertible, that's why!

Ron: Thanks for the great information. I always thought your father played the perfect next door neighbor and some of his escapades with Ozzie were priceless. Just clear one thing up, was it your father's choice to leave the show? Thank You.

Wow - another group of interested folks! Several people suggested I jump over here from the Hazel forum and join in the chatter. Well, I suspect many of you have questions, so let's have some fun.

It's past my bedtime so I won't write any of the many stories I have right now, but I will say that it is not true that Ozzie fired my Dad because he asked for more money - and certainly not because he would have asked him directly. Our families were close even after my Dad left the show. I have a roll of 8mm film I took of my older sister's wedding reception in our backyard in Brentwood and there are numerous shots of all the Nelsons. That would have been summer of 1963. Also, years later, I visited him several times on the set of "Ozzie's Girls" (I knew the Associate Director as well - she was on the staff of the Steve Allen Show when I was the Associate Director of that show).

Anyway, I'm ready for he questions, fire away.

Ron DeFore www.defore.net

Member and Friend CJ....if you are reading this I think we need you to weigh in on this, I haven't finished reading Ozzie's 1973 self written autobiography, I thought but could be wrong that the Don DeFore story originated from the book, which would have to make it factual......anyway......I again sincerely welcome Mr. DeFore to the boards, it is an honor to have you with us! Your father was a wonderful actor and brought such personality and fun to the two beloved series, O&H and Hazel!

Yes, this is great to have Mr. Ron join us here and answer questions about our favorite Ozzie neighbor!

I would just like to hear any and/or all stories you have to tell!

Wow - another group of interested folks! Several people suggested I jump over here from the Hazel forum and join in the chatter. Well, I suspect many of you have questions, so let's have some fun.

It's past my bedtime so I won't write any of the many stories I have right now, but I will say that it is not true that Ozzie fired my Dad because he asked for more money - and certainly not because he would have asked him directly. Our families were close even after my Dad left the show. I have a roll of 8mm film I took of my older sister's wedding reception in our backyard in Brentwood and there are numerous shots of all the Nelsons. That would have been summer of 1963. Also, years later, I visited him several times on the set of "Ozzie's Girls" (I knew the Associate Director as well - she was on the staff of the Steve Allen Show when I was the Associate Director of that show).

Anyway, I'm ready for he questions, fire away.

Ron DeFore www.defore.net


Hi Ron! Welcome! I'm a big fan of your dad and loved him in Hazel and The Adv. of O & H. Thanks for shedding some light on your dad's leaving O&H. The circumstances in the bios I read on Rick Nelson sounded odd to me as Ozzie and your dad seemed to have been close. And, I loved your dad in The Stork Club with Betty Hutton. Any stories you have - I"M ALL EARS - esp. abt your dad and his experiences on O & H. (Hazel too!)

Hi Ron...!

I was just wondering which TV series you may recall as some of your dad's particular favorites? Was he a sitcom fan in general (and a devoted viewer of the later years of Ozzie & Harriet,) or did he seem more interested in westerns, crime, drama, etc? Thanks in advance for the insights, and great to have you here!

P.S. I can see the Fedderson connection, with Don's guest spots on My Three Sons. One of my favorite series, and it was neat to see Don's work with Fred MacMurray.

Welcome Ron, and I am SO happy to hear that it wasn't true about Ozzie firing your dad for more money! That has always bothered me, especially seeing how they interacted together so well on the show. Thorney was my favorite character not in the family. We welcome any and all stories you can and will share with us.

Welcome Terence! I imagine seeing a pink Thunderbird convertible was exciting enough, but seeing David Nelson in it had to be a bigger thrill.

While in the USAF stationed at March AFB, CA (near Riverside), I remember seeing David Nelson, then an Airman Second Class (A/2C) in the Air Force reserves, drive up in his brand new pink Thunderbird convertible in front of the Mess Hall to eat. This was in the summers of 1962/63, I believe. If memory serves me correctly, this was Saturday and Sunday. He used to eat w/one of the Mouskateers, (I believe it was Annette Funicello), also in the AF reserves.

Why do I remember that to this day? Seeing someone drive up in a pink Thunderbird convertible, that's why!

Welcome to the bds!:wave:

Well, didn't think that in 24 hours there would be that many interested. First, I had to laugh when I read TeeVeeCloset's remark, "Don DeFore story originated from the book, which would have to make it factual..." only because even if it were directly from my Dad, he had quite an ability to embellish a story. The truth is that my Dad was getting quite popular then, probably did ask for more money, but really wanted to do more live theater and films. Doing a regular series, at least back in those days, sucked up 110% of your time - very difficult to do other things.

His first love was politics. He's one of the few Hollywood stars that was very consevative - he campaigned for Pete Wilson, Reagan, Goldwater, and others. He was a Reagan Delegate at both Republican National Conventions. (I was a Reagan Appointee,,,gee I wonder how that happened :-)

So in answer to Dusty's Fan question: what was his favorite TV shows? - it was news, documentrys and occasionally an old (40s) film...through which he would name all the actors and whether he liked them or not. Oh, forgot about the Wednesday Night Fights that came on right after (or was it before?) Walt Disney's Wonderful World. Anyway, I do remember the family watching those two things back to back. For those that haven't done so already, you may want to visit the web site I built in his honor: www.defore.net

I do remember my Dad saying that Ozzie was very tight with his money, so I'm sure there were negotiations between agents, but Oz was not the type that would get upset becuase he was asked directly...again, if that's what is in Ozzie's book that supposedly came from my Dad, I would suspect that's just the way my Dad chose to remember it and not necessarily how it came down.

One of my great memories from the show is the sponsor: Coca Cola. Why? Well, I was just a lad at the time and instead of selling lemonade at the street corner my friend and I would sell cokes. We got them for free! Every week the CocaCola truck would pull up and the driver would put a dolly stack on our back porch...nothing like 100% markup! Later my business acumen was sharpened even further when I used one of the electric lemonade machines from my Dad's restaurant in Frontierland and sold lemonade from a professional bubble machine. Yes, my Dad was the only individual to own a concession and have his name displayed in the park: Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue - right next to Aunt Jemima's from 1957-1961. For more on that story see my Yesterland guest column: http://www.defore.net/rondisney.htm

Any way, enough for tonight. Any other questions?
Ron DeFore

I'll take your "I made you laugh" as a nice gesture and leave it at that....I already stated the TREMENDOUS admiration I have for your dad and for Ozzie Nelson. Just originally you stated that there was no truth to the "story" that Ozzie fired your dad. I also wrote if it were true I found that story to be a bit harsh but since the story originated from Ozzie's own 1973 autobiography yes it would seem to be factual even with revisionist history, so it turns out there is some truth to the story....that was all I wanted to know since it was a subject that has long been debated here by the loyal fans again of Ozzie & Don....which again I am a huge admirer of both and would like also to be an admirer of you as well....a very pleasant and respectful good evening.

Well to veer off this tense debate, I'll ask a question, do you know why it was that Ozzie choose to never show Thorny's wife Katherine? She was spoke of all the time but never seen. We never saw his daughter Julie Thornberry either. I remember seeing Will Thornberry just once, though he to was mentioned all the time.

And since the folk lore of O&H is being discussed, is it true that the name Thornberry came from the Nelsons real life next door neighbors The Thornberrys?

Ah yes,I remember the Coca Cola man and his free colas. I guess all salesmen at that time were given so many free ones to distribute.

A question, which character did your Dad like best, Thorney or Mr. B?

Unfortunately my dad worked for a fish company so you can imagine what perks he got. LOL.

Unfortunately my dad worked for a fish company so you can imagine what perks he got. LOL.

I guess if you liked fish, you were in business.:lol:

My husband worked at a hospital, so the vendors gave him their free baby formula and powder, lotion, etc. I never bought any of that with my last two children.

My aunt was a candy dipper so we got a box of candy as an additional gift on every holiday. LOL.

Here's to answering some of the latest questions, and to TeeVeeCloset - it's always tongue firmly implanted in cheek with me - my warm regards to you as well :-) ...and yes, I think there was a grain of truth in that, but nothing is ever black and white...
In answering these questions, I will let you know weather I know for fact or it's my best educated assumption based on what I know.
...so as far as why they never introduced Katherine Thornburry. My best educated guess is that Ozzie was a spend thrift, and I mean that in a very positive sense. He also had a very large ego, and again, I don't say that with any negativity. Add to that he was very very smart. And you add all that together and the reason in his mind was probably: the show doesn't need to introduce that character and it leaves just that many more lines for me and my family. And he was right.
FYI - a couple people have already emailed me, and feel free to do so. However the first couple requests were offers to buy any photos I may have of my Dad and the Nelsons. I have quite a few but as a rule I don't sell anything from the family collection - I want it to last for subsequent generations. I am an avid buyer mostly on eBay. But if I already have an original I usually don't buy more of one photo. So those that are interested, I suggest you search for Don DeFore on eBay and there such photos every once and a while. When I get time (doesn't happen too often) I will go in my basement and search through the dozens of boxes and get a few, scan them and put them up here and will add to my web site while I'm at it. I have a few of Ozzie and Harriet and my Mom and Dad at one of our famous New Year's Eve parties.
Good evening for now, and thanks for the interest.
Ron DeFore

Come back and see us soon Mr. Ron! :)

Thanks again, Ron, and I think all of us will be anxious to see any photos you care to post.

Ok fans, I just spent about an hour in my basement to dig up some old photos - that's saying alot considering I'm only 3 weeks away from having both knees replaced, ouch! Anyway, found some good photos from Ozzie & Harriet show with my Dad, Thorny. Couldn't find the one of them at one of our New Year's Eve parties, although I do have a copy of that hanging in my office. I'm going to dribble them out :-)
http://www.defore.net/Ozzie/5.jpg

...ok, I'll do one more tonight...but this one will undoubtedly elicited a very loud, "bummer!" from all of you...it's what happens when this memorabilia sits in your parents garage through a couple of Mandeville Canyon/Brentwood floods...and who says it never rains in California. Fortunately, I, as the self-anointed family curator (out of five siblings) boxed everything up about 8 years ago and had it shipped to my home in Northern Virginia where it all now sits in my basement (dry, fortunately) patiently waiting for me to build out that 3,000 square foot monstrosity into my second Don DeFore museum (we had just completed the first at our last house and then moved)...interesting story about how I almost lost all of the memorabilia in a flood at that house - which was featured on Dateline NBC in the late 1990s - we left for Hawaii for three weeks only to come home and find that the hose to our washing machine had broken. It was on the middle floor of three story house. Needless to say the Don DeFore museum (photos and posters) had all fallen to the floor along with the dry wall and was soaking in water. The good news is that the insurance company treated it as "Collectibles" as opposed to family photos and shipped them off to a Smithosonian type archive restoration company in Chicago and about four months later it all came back as if nothing happened. That along with discovering eBay in the mid 1980s got my collection to more than it had ever been. I got a poster of a film my Dad was in that my mother did not even remember him doing!
http://www.defore.net/Ozzie/4.jpg

That's priceless!! Thanks so much for sharing! Everyone looks to be having a great time.

Here's another photo you all may enjoy :-) It's the TV Academy Awards 1954 when my Dad was nominated for "Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series"
Ron DeFore
http://www.defore.net/Ozzie/1.jpg

This is absolutely THE most fascinating read I've ever encountered on this site! Ron, awesome!

I enjoyed Thorny, but that Mr. B character was priceless! The interplay between him and Shirley Booth--well, he played the part perfectly!

Thanks for the picture. I believe that is David's wife June sitting beside him.
Everyone looks so nice all dressed up too.

Thanks for the picture. I believe that is David's wife June sitting beside him.
Everyone looks so nice all dressed up too.
In 1954?

In 1954?
I agree. David would have been about 18 in 1954. Well we know for sure it wasn't Frank Cady. LOL.

I guess it wasn't June. LOL I just saw the profile and blonde hair and it looked a lot like June. Ozzie looked very young too.

Well, I finally found the New Year's Eve party photo of my Dad and Mom and the Nelsons. And you all know who else is at the party...Enjoy!

http://www.defore.net/Ozzie/7.jpg

What a great picture! All the big smiles, must have truly been a happy time for all. Love the clothes from that time too. Thanks for sharing with us!!:)

What was Thorney's veiw about rock and roll and Rick's music career?

Thorny & Rock & Roll? Although my Dad was conservative, he was an artist. He never objected to Ricky's music...but then again, I didn't ever see him dancing to it either! A few years later he had my brother and I who each had our own rock bands and he loved it. Although he would always refer to the groups as "combos."
Ron

What a great picture from New Years Eve. What year was that?

They all look like they are having a great time. Wish I could have been there too. Though that would have been some feat since I wasn't even born then. LOL