Actor and composer Don Grady, who played big brother Robbie Douglas on the classic TV sitcom My Three Sons from 1960 to 1972, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 68.
My Three Sons co-star Barry Livingston, who played youngest brother Ernie, said that Grady had been suffering from cancer and receiving hospice care at his Thousand Oaks, California home. However, the place and exact cause of death were not immediately clear.
Born Don Louis Agrati in San Diego on June 8, 1944, he was an original Mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club before appearing on My Three Sons.
As well, he was the composer for the half-hour Walt Disney video The Story Behind the Story, a 2002 documentary about Disney animated feature films.
"My dear friend and TV brother Don Grady passed away today. He was an inspiration to me in so many ways," Barry Livingston posted on Facebook,
Grady wrote the theme song for The Phil Donahue Show and the music for the Ellen Barkin movie Switch.
"The one real through-line in his life was music," said Livingston. "I would think Don would love to be remembered for his great music as much as a teen idol and television icon."
Don Grady was predeceased in 2001 by sister Lani O'Grady. He is survived by his wife since 1984, Ginny, whom he met at Disneyland; their children, Joey and Tessa; and mother Mary Grady, a talent agent.
Re: Don Grady, Robbie on "My Three Sons," dead at 68
[In reply to]
Tim Considine played older brother Mike Douglas in the first five seasons of "My Three Sons" while Robbie was the middle brother and Chip was the youngest brother. Ernie was a neighborhood friend.
In 1965, Tim Considine left the series and his character Mike got married and moved away from the Douglas household. Robbie become the oldest brother in the house while Ernie was orphaned and adopted by the Douglas family as the "third son" in the series title. That same year, William Frawley, who played the Douglas's uncle and 'housekeeper' "Bub", left the show for health reasons and William Demerest as Uncle Charley replaced "Bub".
Lani O'Grady was best known as oldest sister Mary Bradford in the "Eight Is Enough" tv series.
(This post was edited by artytoons on Jun 30, 2012, 12:00 PM)
