Don Oreck

Don Oreck
Don Oreck
Born	Donald Allen Oreck; August 31, 1930; Los Angeles, California, USA
Died	March 5, 2006 (aged 75); Los Angeles, California
Cause of death	Brain disease
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupation(s)	Film, television actor
Spouse(s)	(1) Joanna Moore (married 1955–57, divorced); (2) Mary Ann Powell (married 1958–71, 2 children)
Children	Kevin Robert Oreck; Elizabeth Diane Oreck

Don 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.

A native of Los Angeles, California, Donald Allen 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. Ted de Corsia was cast in this episode in the role of Charlie Breen.^[2]

In 1955, he married 20-year-old Joanna Moore who, after their divorce in 1957, became a well-known movie and TV actress and, following her later marriage to Ryan O'Neal, the mother of Griffin O'Neal and Tatum 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.

Don Oreck died in Los Angeles at the age of seventy-five of a degenerative brain disease.