Donald Wayne, former Regional Sales Manager for the Continental Baking Co.’s Hotel and Restaurant Division, who lived and worked among entertainers during World War II, died peacefully in his sleep on May 13. He was just 2 1/2 months shy of his 90th birthday.
During World War II, he served in Special Services in the Army Air Corps, and he attended Officer Training School with Clark Gable.
Born Donald Weinberger on July 29, 1918, in New York City, he was the second of three boys. The family later moved to St. Augustine, FL, where his father, Charlie Weinberger, owned a haberdashery and dealt in real estate.
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Mr. and Mrs. Don Wayne
In the midst of the Great Depression, Mr. Wayne’s father lost his business and properties. The family moved on to Baltimore where the Weinberger brothers grew up in the same Payson Street neighborhood
as professional boxer Jack Portnoy and World War II hero Hank Bergman.
Mr. Wayne’s older brother, Warren Weinberger, became e a prominent attorney in Baltimore.
In July of 1941, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, Don enlisted in the Army Air Force. While in Radio School, he suggested that a training film be made called “Prelude To War,” whereupon hiss superiors had him transferred to Special Services. Frank Capra eventually produced the documentary “Prelude to War” but Don was sent on to Bolling Field, near Washington D.C., where he produced shows for the troops with guest stars such as Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Bing Crosby.
Graduating from Officer Training School in the same class with Clark Gable, Don said in a recent interview he was afraid he might wash out of OTS, and he asked Gable for advice on how to study. Since Gable had to constantly memorize scripts when he was under contract to MGM., the actor told Don to ignore the textbooks. He advised Don to concentrate on the lectures because the instructor was giving them the answers to the tests that they had to take.
Don remembered Gable being friendly and unassuming.
In 1944, prior to D-Day, Don was shipped to England where, assigned to Special Services, he helped build the morale of the troops. His Variety Show, “Glad To See Ya” played all over England. When he was interviewed, he said that he was one of the last people to see Glenn Miller before he took off in an airplane on the ill fated trip across the English Channel, where it vanished in the fog.
In 1945, Don came home, traveling aboard the Queen Mary, which served as a troop ship during the war. He would relate many funny stories about the trip home on the Queen Mary, recalling that women were berthed on the top deck, the officers on the second deck and the enlisted men in the bay. He had talked about one day going aboard the Queen Mary, now in Long Beach, and recalling that trip home.
Don came to Los Angeles where his younger brother was an actor in motion pictures. From 1944, Steve Weinberger appeared in more than fifty films including “The Sands of Iwo Jima” with John Wayne and “Bedtime For Bonzo” with Ronald Reagan. Steve had changed his name to Steve Wayne. He told Don, “If you're gonna tell people we’re brothers, you have to change your name.” ' So Don Weinbergerbecame Donald Wayne.
Don decided that that an actor’s life was not for him, and he went to work in sales for a company called Imagineering that manufactured government training devices. The company was sold, shut down and later resurrected by Walt Disney.
On May 1, 1948, Don married Betty Claire Strickland, a young widow from Kansas whose husband, Maj. Richard Strickland, a pilot in the Army Air Corps, had been killed during the war.
Meanwhile, Betty had gone back to school. She was studying acting and singing at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Don and Betty had four children, stepson Richard Scott Strickland , twin girls Debra and Diane, and son Jon Gregory Wayne.
When the twin girls were only three years old, they were chosen to play the lead in a television docudrama titled “Parents of A Stranger” about a young girl who is discovered to be deaf and is taken to the John Tracy Clinic for treatment. Mrs. Spencer Tracy initiated the John Tracy Clinic when her son was found to be deaf. Today, the John Tracy Clinic provides parent-centered services for children with hearing loss, free of charge.
Betty recalled that the twin girls were chosen because of the short shooting schedule would not allow one child to work a full day. Each girl worked a half day and, according to Betty, the director said “I can’t tell them apart.” “Parents of A Stranger” was filmed at the Hal Roach Studios, Culver City.
Don went on to become Regional Sales Manager for the Continental Baking Co., a conglomerate that also owned Wonder Bread and Hostess Bakeries.
Donald's son Jon Gregory, who owns JWC Construction, recalled touring the Hostess Bakery with his father and 19 of his friends on his 11th birthday to see how Twinkies, Ding Dongs and other Hostess products were made. Jon recalled that during the tour, the kids were told they could eat any of the rejects. “And there were a lot of rejects,” he said.
Don retired from Continental in 1981, although he later was pressed back into service.
When Don retired for good in 1986, he and Betty Claire moved from Northridge to Ocean Hills Country Club near Oceanside.
Betty Claire picked up her acting career, appearing in commercials, educational films and doing voiceover work. Both Don and Betty became active in the Theatre Art program at Ocean Hills, Don writing and directing and Betty Claire acting as his producer and co-director.
Don was instrumental in arranging filmed interviews with other World War II veterans, including Col. Ed Evans, a motion picture camera instructor at the Hal Roach Studios during the war.
