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Weekend All Things Considered; Washington, D.C. : 1. Washington, D.C.: NPR. (May 25, 1997)</ref>
When O'Connor was only two years old, he and his seven-year-old sister, Arlene, were hit by a car while crossing the street outside a theater in [[Hartford, Connecticut]]; Donald survived, but his sister died. A few weeks later, his father died of a heart attack while dancing on stage in [[Brockton, Massachusetts]].<ref name=severo>{{cite news|title=Donald O'Connor, 78, Who Danced His Way Through Many Hollywood Musicals, Is Dead| first=Richard| last=Severo|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20716FD3A590C7A8EDDA00894DB404482|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130112001/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20716FD3A590C7A8EDDA00894DB404482|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 30, 2013| work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 29, 2003| access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref>
O'Connor's mother was extremely possessive of her youngest son due to these traumas, not allowing him to cross the street on his own until he turned 13. Effie also stopped O'Connor from learning hazardous dance routines, and made sure she always knew where he was when he wasn't performing.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hess |first1=Earl J |last2=Dabholkar |first2=Pratibha A |title=Singin' in the rain : the making of an American masterpiece |date=2009 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |page=45 |isbn=9780700616565 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780700616565/page/45/mode/2up |access-date=April 21, 2021}}</ref>
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==Personal life==
O'Connor was married twice and had four children. His first marriage was in 1944 to Gwendolyn Carter, when he was 18 and she was 20. They married in Tijuana.<ref>Donald O'Connor Weds Secretly. The New York Times, February 8, 1944: 12.</ref> Together they had one child, a daughter Donna. The couple divorced in 1954.<ref>Donald O'Connor Divorced. The New York Times, June 17, 1953: 32.</ref><ref>Donald O'Connor to Marry. The New York Times, October 10, 1956: 46.</ref>
He was married to Gloria Noble from October 11, 1956 until his death. They had 3 children, Alice, Fred, and Kevin. They were married for 47 years and lived in Thousand Oaks, CA. Gloria died on June 11, 2013, of natural causes.
O'Connor had undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1990,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/2003-09-28/news/25457720_1_donald-o-connor-vaudeville-alicia-o-connor|title=Archives - Philly.com}}</ref> and he nearly died from pleural pneumonia in January 1999. He died from complications of [[heart failure]] on September 27, 2003, at age 78 at the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital]], in [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles|Woodland Hills]], California.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-28-me-oconnor28-story.html|title=Donald O'Connor, 78; Entertainer Immortalized by 'Singin' in the Rain'|last=Welkos|first=Robert W.|date=September 28, 2003|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=November 12, 2012}}</ref>
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