---
name: "Don DaGradi"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/don-dagradi"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "1 March 1911"
died: "4 August 1991"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T04:28:23.174461+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Don DaGradi

Writer. Born 1 March 1911 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 4 August 1991.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 1 March 1911, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 4 August 1991
- **Active:** 1941–1964
- **Also known as:** Donald DaGradi, Donald Da Gradi, Don Da Gradi
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 2 writing, 1 producing, 1 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as writer, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 87 (1), 1950s 79 (2), 1960s 83 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_DaGradi, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q444392, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0196119/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5837

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Mary Poppins*](https://film.one/film/mary-poppins.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Don DaGradi was an American screenwriter and layout artist who worked primarily for Walt Disney Productions. He began his career in the 1930s as a background painter and layout artist on animated shorts and features, including Der Fuehrer's Face (1943).

DaGradi contributed the story for the animated feature Lady and the Tramp (1955). He later collaborated with Bill Walsh on screenplays for several live-action films, most notably Mary Poppins (1964), for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Their other joint credits include Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and The Love Bug (1968).

He was named a Disney Legend in 1991, shortly after his death on 4 August 1991 in Friday Harbor, Washington.

*Sources: d23.com, imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Wrote (2) — the average rests on these

- *Mary Poppins* (1964), Fi1m 83, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/mary-poppins.md)
- *Lady and the Tramp* (1955), Fi1m 80, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/lady-and-the-tramp.md)

### Produced (1)

- *Sleeping Beauty* (1959), Fi1m 78, Production Designer — [page](https://film.one/film/sleeping-beauty.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Dumbo* (1941), Fi1m 87, Art Direction — [page](https://film.one/film/dumbo.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Love Bug* (1997), Original Film Writer
- *Goofy at the Olympic Games* (1992), Animation
- *Halloween Hall o' Fame* (1977), Colorist
- *Bedknobs and Broomsticks* (1971), Screenplay
- *Scandalous John* (1971), Screenplay
- *The Love Bug* (1968), Screenplay
- *Blackbeard's Ghost* (1968), Screenplay
- *Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N.* (1966), Screenplay
- *Mary Poppins* (1964), Screenplay — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/mary-poppins.md)
- *The Parent Trap* (1961), Sequence Artist
- *Darby O'Gill and the Little People* (1959), as Matte Painter
- *Sleeping Beauty* (1959), Production Designer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/sleeping-beauty.md)
- *Lady and the Tramp* (1955), Story — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/lady-and-the-tramp.md)
- *Music Land* (1955), Layout Supervisor
- *Two for the Record* (1954), Layout Supervisor
- *The Brave Engineer* (1950), as Layout
- *Fun and Fancy Free* (1947), as Layout
- *Hockey Homicide* (1945), as Layout
- *Duck Pimples* (1945), as Layout
- *The Three Caballeros* (1944), as Layout
- *How to Be a Sailor* (1944), as Layout
- *Victory Vehicles* (1943), as Layout
- *Der Fuehrer's Face* (1943), as Layout
- *How to Fish* (1942), as Layout
- *Dumbo* (1941), as Art Direction — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/dumbo.md)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1965: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Mary Poppins*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Disney Legends 1991: Disney Legends (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/don-dagradi