Paul Petersen

Paul Petersen

"This is about the American actor. For the Norwegian gymnast, see Paul Pedersen."

Paul Petersen (born William Paul Petersen on September 23, 1945, in Glendale, California) is an American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Primarily known for his character-type roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as an adult Petersen established the organization A Minor Consideration to support child stars and other child laborers through legislation, family education, and personal intervention and counseling for those in crisis. [http://www.minorcon.org/tolucan_times.html Interview with Paul Petersen by the "Tolucan Times"] , June 27, 2007. Reproduced on the web site of A Minor Consideration; retrieved 2008-03-29.]

The naturally black-headed Petersen achieved greater fame in the 1960s, at an early age, by playing Donna Reed's son, Jeff Stone, on "The Donna Reed Show". In the early 1980s, he also had a recurring role as a police officer on "Matt Houston", and in the late 1990s, he played the author Paul Conway in the film "Mother's Day".

Early career

Petersen started out in show business at the age of ten when he became a "Mouseketeer" on the "Mickey Mouse Club". He was fired within two weeks for disorderly conduct. He was later quoted as saying, "I didn't know a kid actor shouldn't act like a kid." However, he achieved stardom as a teenage heartthrob on "The Donna Reed Show", an ABC family sitcom that ran from 1958 to 1966. He played son Jeff Stone from the time he was twelve until he was twenty. In addition, he learned a great deal from Reed while he was growing up on the television set. Above all, he realized that Donna was his favorite actress to date in his business. Petersen sang his sentimental hit song "My Dad" to costar Carl Betz, who portrayed Dr. Alex Stone, in a 1962 episode of the series. His other costars were Shelley Fabares and his real-life sister Patty Petersen as well as the late Bob Crane.

Afterwards he was in many guest-roles, but fewer and fewer as the years passed. He said that too many casting directors do not permit Bubblegum stars to grow into adult actors. Hence, his Jeff Stone character was particularly typecasted.

inging career

Petersen's fame brought recording offers and although his singing voice was limited, he had hit record singles with songs "She Can't Find Her Keys", "Amy", and "Lollipops and Roses", as well as "My Dad" that made #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also recorded during the 1960s for Motown, including the singles "Chained" (later a hit for Marvin Gaye) and "A Little Bit For Sandy."

College education and authorship

Difficult times followed his almost instantaneous disappearance from the Hollywood spotlight. As a result, Petersen returned to the university and obtained a degree in literature that helped him to write sixteen adventure novels.

Petersen's authorship began after he met David Oliphant, a New York publisher visiting Los Angeles. His first novel concerned car racing. Thereafter, he created a Matt Helm-type hero, Eric Saveman, also known as "The Smuggler." In one year, Pocket Books published eight of his Smuggler novels, earning Petersen $75,000.

Personal life

Petersen has been married 3 times: In 1967, Peterson married actress Brenda Benet. When she was having an affair with Bill Bixby,fact|date=March 2008 the couple divorced in 1970. In 1974, Peterson married Hallie Littman; they had two children, then were divorced in 1988. Peterson married Rana Jo Platz in 1992.

Activism

In 1990, he founded the child-actor support group called A Minor Consideration to improve working conditions for child actors and to assist in the transition between working as a child actor and adult life, whether in acting or in other professions.

He is currently the board member of the Donna Reed Foundation, and works for the Donna Reed Festival, which takes place on the third week of June, every year, in his mentor's hometown of Denison, Iowa.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.paulpetersen.com Paul Petersen Official Website]
* [http://www.minorcon.org/index.html A Minor Consideration]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Paul Petersen — (* 23. September 1945 in Glendale, Kalifornien) ist ein US amerikanischer Schauspieler. Paul Petersen wurde in den 1950er Jahren von seiner bühnenbegeisterten Mutter ins Theatergeschäft eingeführt. Neben seiner Arbeit auf der Bühne wurde er in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Petersen — ist ein Familienname. Er ist der häufigste Familienname in Schleswig Holstein. Eine Variante des Namens ist Petersén. Bedeutung Der Name ist eine patronymische Bildung und bedeutet Sohn des Peter. Die folgenden Personen tragen den Familiennamen:… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Petersen — is a common Scandinavian patronymic surname, meaning son of Peter . There are other spellings. Petersen may refer to:Family name name = Petersen imagesize= caption= pronunciation = PE ter son , PAY tur son meaning = stone region = Scandinavia… …   Wikipedia

  • Paul Peterson — For the actor and novelist William Paul Petersen, see Paul Petersen. For the football player and coach, see Paul Peterson (American football). infobox musical artist 2 Name = Paul Peterson Img capt = Background = solo singer Birth name = Paul… …   Wikipedia

  • Paul Pedersen — This is about the Norwegian gymnast. For the American actor, see Paul Petersen. Paul Andreas Pedersen (born September 18, 1886 died August 16, 1948) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics and in the 1912 Summer… …   Wikipedia

  • Paul Nevermann — (* 5. Februar 1902 in Klein Flottbek bei Altona; † 22. März 1979 in Puerto de la Cruz auf Teneriffa) war ein deutscher Politiker (SPD) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Paul Hunter Classic 2011 — Players Tour Championship 2011/12 – Event 4 Sieger Mark Selby Austragungsort Fürth/Nürnberg Eröffnung 25. August 2011 Endspiel 28. August 2011 Höchstes Break 147 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Paul Dinter — (vorne links), Zweiter beim Ersten Lauf der DDR Meisterschaft im Straßenfahren am 31. Mai 1953, neben ihm der Sieger Bernhard Trefflich bei Übergabe des Siegerkranzes. Paul „Paule“ Dinter (* 6. August 1922 in Berlin Li …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Paul Conrath — Le Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring et Paul Conrath (à gauche) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Paul Oestreich — Paul Hermann August Oestreich (* 30. März 1878 in Kolberg (Pommern); † 28. Februar 1959 in Berlin) war ein deutscher Pädagoge. Er war einer der führenden deutschen Reformpädagogen in den 1920er Jahren. Ab 1949 arbeitete er in der Ost Berliner… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”