Toon Talk Special: Disney Live Action Actors
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Even with four Tony Awards, two Oscar nominations and a ton of Emmy nominations, Angela Lansbury is best remembered by Disney fans (at least before Beauty & the Beast came along) as the spinster-turned-apprentice witch in the 1971 musical fantasy Bedknobs & Broomsticks, a role that earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress - Musical/Comedy. She was also named a Disney Legend in 1995.
Fred MacMurray from The Absend-Minded Professor
(c) Disney
Fred MacMurray could best be described as the "surrogate Walt", "standing in" for Mr. Disney in a string of family film favorites, most notably as Professor Ned Brainard in The Absent-Minded Professor and it's sequel Son of Flubber. He starred in The Shaggy Dog; Bon Voyage!; Follow Me, Boys!; Charley & the Angel and also notably as Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, the singing and dancing Happiest Millionaire. He was the very first Disney Legend, named in 1987.
Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap
(c) Disney
As actor John Mills was auditioning for Swiss Family Robinson, his daughter met Walt Disney, who was looking for a young actress for the title role in the film version of Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna. Her natural talent earned Hayley Mills the part, and a special Oscar for "juvenile performance". Her subsequent Disney films include In Search of the Castaways, Summer Magic, The Moon-Spinners and That Darn Cat!, but it was her tour-de-force duel role as Sharon McKendrick and Susan Evers in The Parent Trap that endeared her to baby boomers everywhere. Named a Disney Legend in 1998.
Fess Parker as Davy Crockett
(c) Disney
While it is not known if he himself was "born on a mountaintop", Fess Parker certainly embodied the American hero Davy Crockett for many generations. In the five Disneyland television episodes and the two subsequent feature films, Parker's smooth drawl and rugged air helped him to become the King of the Wild Frontier. Other Disney films include The Great Locomotive Chase, Westward Ho the Wagons, Old Yeller and The Light in the Forest.
Kurt Russell from The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
(c) Disney
Starting with a bit part in The Absent-Minded Professor, young Kurt Russell soon became a Disney film regular. Supporting parts in Follow Me, Boys!; The One & Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (co-starring his future partner Goldie Hawn) and The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit led to his most memorable role, Dexter Reilly in the "Medfield College" trilogy: The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes; Now You See Him, Now You Don't and The Strongest Man in the World. He followed that with The Barefoot Executive, Charley & the Angel and Superdad before "graduating" to adult roles. Russell returned to Disney to voice the adult Copper in The Fox & the Hound and was named a Disney Legend in 1998.
A mere cameo in the original PL Travers' Mary Poppins books, the character of Bert the happy-go-lucky chimney-sweep was expanded by the Sherman Brothers into a full-fledged leading role in the film version. To fill the part, Walt Disney hired the only American in the cast, TV funnyman and Broadway hoofer Dick Van Dyke. In addition to Bert, Van Dyke turned in another hysterical performance in the film, as Mr. Dawes, Sr. He also starred in Lt. Robinson Crusoe, USN; Never a Dull Moment and Dick Tracy and named a Disney Legend in 1998.
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-- Kirby C. Holt
Kirby is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. A frequent contributer to the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards, he currently resides near one of the Happiest Places on Earth: Orlando, Florida.
Took Talk is posted whenever Kirby has something to review or talk about.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted October 12, 2001