Died On This Date (April 6, 1984) Ral Donner / ’50s Rock ‘n Roller
themusicsover Ral Donner
February 10, 1943 – April 6, 1984
Ral Donner was a singer who came on to the scene in the early 1950s and for better or worse had an uncanny resemblance, both physically and vocally to Elvis Presley. That fact both helped and cursed him for the rest of his life. There was always interest in him as a singer, but much of the time it was only because people wanted to check out this guy that was so much like Elvis. At times, many even thought he was Elvis. Donner was having moderate success by the second half of the ’50s, even performing on Allan Freed’s Big Beat Show and later at the Apollo Theater. His biggest hit came in the early ’60s when he recorded a relatively unknown Elvis track called “The Girl of My Best Friend” which became a Top 20 hit. Donner’s career pretty much petered out by the mid-’60s, recording occasionally for smaller labels. But then in 1977, Elvis Presley passed away, ironically spawning a revived interest in Donner since he sounded so much like the King. Donner performed tributes to Elvis in the coming years, but unlike the many others, he kept them tasteful by relying on his musical abilities instead of costumes and gimmicks. Perhaps his ultimate honor came in 1981 when he was selected to impersonate Elvis as narrator of the This Is Elvis documentary. Ral Donner passed away of cancer on April 6, 1984.