Joey D. Vieira Explained

Joey D. Vieira
Birth Name:Joseph Douglas Vieira
Other Names:Donald Keeler
Birth Date: April 8, 1944
Occupation:Film and television actor
Relatives:Ken Weatherwax (half brother)
Ruby Keeler (aunt)

Joseph Douglas Vieira, known as Joey D. Vieira (born April 8, 1944), is an American film and television actor. He began as a child actor using the professional name Donald Keeler playing chubby, beanie-wearing farm boy, Sylvester "Porky" Brockway in the first several seasons (1954–57) of TV's Lassie (retitled Jeff's Collie in syndicated reruns and on DVD). Vieira borrowed the professional surname from his aunt, Ruby Keeler, star of numerous Warner Bros. musicals in the 1930s.[1]

Other early TV appearances include The Pride of the Family, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Shirley Temple's Storybook, and My Three Sons. Film appearances include The Private War of Major Benson (1955) with Charlton Heston and The Patriot (2000) with Mel Gibson in which he played as Peter Howard. Vieira has also written, produced and directed.

He also had a music career in the 1970s and 1980s. One of his songs was sampled by the Tyler The Creator song "911/Mr.Lonely" on his album Flower Boy.

Family

In addition to being the nephew of Ruby Keeler, he was the half-brother of actor Ken Weatherwax, best known for portraying Pugsley Addams on the 1960s television sitcom The Addams Family.[1]

Partial filmography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lamparski, Richard. Whatever Became Of ...? Eighth Series. 1982. Crown Publishers. New York. 0-517-54855-0. 230–31. registration.