Don Mann(IV)

Don Mann is another typical Hollywood child. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Whittier to a Mother who was a Feature Newspaper writer and a Father who was a Mason at the Al Malaikah Temple and a stagehand at the Shrine Auditorium where he worked backstage at several of the Academy Awards shows. One Uncle of Dons was Professor of English at Washington State University and another Uncle Ben Wasson in New York City was the Literary Agent for William Faulkner, so Don was introduced to literature and show business at an early age. His parents started him with Tap dancing lessons, Ballet and Jazz dancing classes and Trumpet lessons all before the age of 8 years old in their desire to see him fulfill their dreams vicariously. His talents eventually landed him the job of Peter Pan at Disneyland at just 14 years old, where he worked for the next 3 years. He worked alongside his good friend at the time, Michael Munoz, who portrayed Mowgli from The Jungle Book, and who has since gone on to find success as both a Stunt man and the stunt double for Danny DeVito. They were both 5 foot 3 inches tall at the time they worked for Disneyland, but Don grew to over 6 feet tall. Ironically, they were both born on the same day and the same year. Don graduated from High School in Whittier, Ca. a classmate of Keith Tellez, another successful stunt man and stunt double for Dustin Hoffman. At the age of 20, Don had a debilitating injury that resulted in extensive back surgery, immediately ending his career as a dancer. In 1981, he was offered an entry level position at the largest Commercial Production Company in Hollywood at the time, N. Lee Lacy & Associates, where he worked as the Personal Assistant to Mr. Lacy. He soon discovered that free-lance Production Assistants made considerably more money than staff assistants, so he left the company and joined the ranks of the free-lance PA's in town, starting at N. Lee Lacy & Associates and moving up the production ranks to the position of Production Coordinator, Manager and eventually producing Music Videos, Commercials and Infomercials. He worked with friends for fun and to make ends meet as a Best Boy grip on the Feature Film "Where Sleeping Dogs Lie", several commercials and Playboy videos, before he was offered a job as a Broadcast Producer at a legal Advertising Agency in New Orleans, where he was responsible for writing, producing, directing and editing low-budget Television Commercials for Law firms in 25 markets across the Country. It was during this period that he was called and asked to return to Los Angeles to assist Dick Clark Productions in developing the hit Television series "Beyond Belief". Today Don works as a Location Scout and Assistant Location Manager.