Micky Dolenz
Last surviving member of the Monkees.
George Michael Dolenz Jr., born March 8, 1945, is an American actor, singer, and musician. He was a co-star of the Emmy-winning TV sitcom The Monkees and one of two main vocalists for the Beatles-style pop rock band of the same name, created by producer Don Kirshner. Though credited as the drummer, he sang lead on most studio recordings and only learned to drum after the group’s second album. Dolenz is the last living Monkee, outliving Davy Jones (2012), Peter Tork (2019), and Michael Nesmith (2021).
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- George Michael Dolenz Jr.
- Other names
- Mickey Braddock
- Born
- 8 March 1945
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Occupation
- Musician
- actor
- singer
- TV producer
- businessman
- Years active
- 1956–present
- Children
- 4, including Ami Bluebell Dolenz
- Parents
- George Dolenz, Janelle Johnson
Facts from the source article.
Early life and career
George Michael Dolenz Jr. entered the world on March 8, 1945, at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood, born to actors George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson. He grew up with three sisters: Gemma Marie, who goes by Coco (a nickname Micky gave her as a child, short for "Coco Sunshine"), Deborah, and Kathleen, called Gina. Coco often visited the Monkees set and occasionally sang backup or duets with her brother on Monkees records, and she still performs in his backing band. As a child, Dolenz had Perthes disease, which weakened and shortened his right leg and affected his hip joint. This led him to adopt an unusual drum setup: right-handed but left-footed. His showbiz start came in 1956, starring as Corky, an orphaned elephant water boy, on the children's TV series Circus Boy, credited as Mickey Braddock. The show ran two seasons, then he made sporadic TV appearances and finished school, graduating from Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen in 1962. In 1964, he played Ed in the Mr. Novak episode "Born of Kings and Angels." He was in college in Los Angeles when he landed the "drummer" role on NBC's The Monkees.
Career
Before the Monkees, Dolenz originally had his own rock band called "Micky and the One-Nighters" in the early- to mid-1960s with himself as lead singer. He had already begun writing his own songs. According to Dolenz, his band's live stage act included rock songs, cover songs, and some R&B. One of his favorite songs to sing was Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode", which he sang at his Monkees audition, resulting in his being hired as one of the cast/band members. He recorded two 45s in 1965 that went unreleased until the Monkees' success in 1967. Issued on the Challenge label, the recordings were "Don't Do It" b/w "Plastic Symphony III" and "Huff Puff" b/w "Fate (Big Ben)". Neither B-side on the Challenge 45s is by Dolenz, but rather a band later credited as The Obvious. In 1965, Dolenz was cast in the television sitcom The Monkees and became the drummer and a lead vocalist in the band created for the show. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, writers of many of the Monkees' songs, observed quickly that when brought into the studio together, the four actors would try to make each other laugh. Because of this, the writers often brought in each singer individually. The antics escalated until Dolenz poured a cup of ice on Don Kirshner's head. At the time, Dolenz did not know Kirshner on sight. During tension-filled times, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork voluntarily turned over lead vocal duties to Dolenz on their own songs. Dolenz wrote a few of the band's songs, most prominently "Randy Scouse Git" from the album Headquarters. He provided the lead vocals for such hits as "Last Train to Clarksville", "Pleasant Valley Sunday", and "I'm a Believer". Dolenz purchased the third modular Moog synthesizer sold commercially. (The first two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens.) His performance on the Monkees' song "Daily Nightly" (written by Nesmith), from the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., was one of the first uses of the synthesizer on a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman. He is the last surviving member of the Monkees (after Davy Jones's death in 2012, Tork's in 2019, and Nesmith's in 2021).
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