When a name like Donald Reed McClure turns up in a genealogy search, most people expect to find a familiar face or a Hollywood story. Instead, the records point to something quieter — a private man from Pennsylvania who became, through his son, part of American television history.
Donald Reed McClure was not an actor or entertainment figure. He was the father of Doug McClure, best known for playing Trampas in the long-running Western series The Virginian. That connection is why his name appears in genealogy databases and why people search for him today.
This article covers what the records confirm about Donald Reed McClure — his birth, death, family background, and marriage — and provides context about his son’s career to explain why public interest in the family exists.
Who Was Donald Reed McClure
Donald Reed McClure was a private individual. There is no public record of him working in entertainment, politics, or any other field that would have brought him into public life on his own terms.
His name surfaces today almost entirely because of genealogy databases. Profiles on FamilySearch and family trees on MyHeritage list him as the father of actor Doug McClure, and that connection drives most searches.
It is worth keeping three separate people distinct here. Donald Reed McClure is the father. Donald Reed McClure Jr. is one of his sons. And Douglas “Doug” Osborne McClure — the actor — is another son. These are three different people sharing variations of the same name, and genealogy pages sometimes display them in ways that can cause confusion.
Donald Reed McClure himself was not famous. His significance, in the public record, is genealogical.
Birth, Death, and the McClure Family Line
According to a compiled profile on FamilySearch (reference KCSW-NM2), Donald Reed McClure was born on March 3, 1904, in Ingram, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He died on December 2, 1965, in Los Angeles, California.
That places his life entirely within the twentieth century, spanning from western Pennsylvania to Southern California — a path many American families took during those decades.
FamilySearch lists his parents as George Brinton McClure and Hannah Jeanette Irwin. The basic family line, as the records show it, runs like this:
- George Brinton McClure and Hannah Jeanette Irwin (grandparents)
- Donald Reed McClure (father)
- Douglas “Doug” McClure (actor, son)
These details come from a compiled genealogy profile, which draws on census records, birth records, and death records. Compiled profiles are useful starting points, but they are indexed summaries rather than single original documents. The dates and places listed here are record-supported, though researchers tracing this family directly would want to verify them against source documents.
His Marriage to Clara Elsie Barker and Their Children
Donald Reed McClure married Clara Elsie Barker in 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to the FamilySearch profile. Some secondary online biographies list a different marriage date, so it is fair to note that discrepancy rather than treat either year as definitive. The genealogy record gives 1927.
The couple had at least two sons: Donald Reed McClure Jr. and Douglas “Doug” Osborne McClure. Doug was born on May 11, 1935, in Glendale, California, which tells us the family had relocated from Pennsylvania to the Los Angeles area by the mid-1930s at the latest.
Beyond these confirmed details, the public record about Clara Elsie Barker and the family’s daily life is limited. The FamilySearch profiles for both Donald (KCSW-NM2) and Doug (LCRB-TMY) support the family structure described here, but they do not provide personal details about the marriage or household.
What is clear is that Donald and Clara raised at least two sons in the Los Angeles area, and one of those sons went on to become a recognizable face in American television.
Doug McClure — The Actor Who Brought the Family Name to Public Attention
Doug McClure was born in Glendale, California, on May 11, 1935. He grew up to become one of the more familiar Western actors of his era, particularly on television.
He is best remembered for playing Trampas in The Virginian, a Western series that ran for nine seasons. The show aired from 1962 to 1971, and Doug’s portrayal of the easy-going cowhand made him a household name during those years.
His connection to Western roles was not purely cosmetic. Secondary biographical material describes him as having learned to rope and ride horses from a young age, skills that gave his on-screen work a grounded quality.
Beyond The Virginian, Doug appeared in a range of film and television productions. His film credits include:
- The Enemy Below (1957)
- Shenandoah (1965)
- The Land That Time Forgot (1975)
He worked steadily across several decades, moving between television movies, adventure films, and genre pictures. His career never quite reached the upper tier of Hollywood stardom, but he maintained a consistent presence and a loyal audience.
In 1994, Doug McClure received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a recognition that marked his long contribution to the industry. He died in 1995, according to FamilySearch records, closing a career that had spanned more than three decades.
One footnote that sometimes appears in discussions of Doug McClure: the fictional character Troy McClure from The Simpsons is said to have been partly inspired by him. This has been referenced in secondary sources, but it should not be read as a direct family or production connection. It is a piece of television trivia, not a formal credit.
Why Donald Reed McClure Appears in Genealogy Databases
The short answer is: because his son was famous enough to attract public interest, and genealogy platforms index family members alongside notable individuals.
Sites like FamilySearch and MyHeritage allow users to build family trees and link them to historical records. When a celebrity like Doug McClure has a profile — supported by birth, death, and marriage records — the surrounding family members get indexed too. Donald Reed McClure and Clara Elsie Barker appear in those databases because they are listed as Doug’s parents.
MyHeritage, for its part, draws from member-submitted family trees and historical document collections. Those trees can include names, dates, relationships, photographs, and documents that users have attached. This means a search for “Donald Reed McClure” may return results that vary in detail and accuracy depending on what individual contributors have added.
It is always worth distinguishing between a compiled genealogy profile — which summarizes and links multiple records — and an original source document like a census form or a birth certificate. The profile is a helpful map; the original document is the territory.
For readers doing their own family research, resources like ClickBusinessMag can also offer guidance on navigating public records and understanding how online databases organize historical information.
Donald’s appearance in these databases does not mean he was a public figure. It means he was connected to one.
A Private Man Behind a Familiar Name
Donald Reed McClure lived from 1904 to 1965. He was born in Pennsylvania, married Clara Elsie Barker in Pittsburgh, and eventually settled in the Los Angeles area, where he raised at least two sons. One of those sons became a television star.
That is essentially the public record. There are no verified details about his occupation, his personality, or the specifics of his private life. What remains is a genealogical outline — birth, marriage, children, death — and the larger story of a family that made its way from Allegheny County to Southern California in the early twentieth century.
People searching for Donald Reed McClure are usually looking for context around Doug McClure. And that context is straightforward: Donald was the father, a private man from Pittsburgh, whose son grew up to ride horses on television sets and earn a star on Hollywood’s most famous sidewalk.
The name Donald Reed McClure belongs to history quietly. It matters mainly because of the family line it represents and the career it helped, however indirectly, to set in motion.
Read Also:
