Don Zelaya

Don Zelaya was born on Mar 06, 1893 in Nicaragua. Don Zelaya's big-screen debut came with Valiant Is the Word for Carrie directed by Wesley Ruggles in 1936, strarring Nick Dorapopolos (uncredited). Don Zelaya is known for San Francisco Docks directed by Arthur Lubin, Burgess Meredith stars as Johnny Barnes and Irene Hervey as Kitty Tracy. The upcoming new movie Don Zelaya plays is Amazon Quest which will be released on May 10, 1954.

Named after the King of Spain, pianist Carlos Alfonso Zelaya was the son of José Santos Zelaya, President of Nicaragua from 1893-1909. He was educated in Europe before his father sent him to America to be a general. He was a graduate of West Point, 1910, and served four years in the U.S. Army during World War I. In 1911 he married his first wife, American-born Marguerite Lee, grandniece of General Robert E. Lee. They had a son they named José Santos. As pianist he played with the San Francisco and Minneapolis symphony orchestras. With a repertoire of 300 classical pieces, his performances were not limited to the concert stage, for he also enjoyed bringing classical music to the vaudeville (Keith-Orpheum Circuit) stage. According to the Spokane (Washington) Spokesman-Review (Mar. 4, 1932), "...what is unique about this most affable and rotund Castilian is that he plays classical music and makes vaudeville audiences like it. He has a certain humor, a philosophical way of presenting his music that makes his audiences clamor for more and more." Beginning in 1933 he made sporadic film appearances playing bit parts. His last role was as "Gimpy," the piano player in