Profile of Sam McKim
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Both Sam and his brother took advantage of the free education offered to returning War veterans. While Dave studied photography at Art Center College, Sam studied illustration and advertising, as he had loved to draw since he was 3 years old. Sam also joined the Reserves and continued to act part time. At 24, Sam suffered a heart attack and had to drop out of the active reserves. Both Sam and David finished their studies and David received the first Bachelors degree in photography, while Sam received one of the first ten Bachelor of Art Degrees given by Art Center College. The very next day Sam received his papers to go to Korea while David was not recalled.
Sam went in as a 1st Lieutenant of Infantry and was sent overseas the first month He was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division as a platoon leader in a rifle company and was in Korea for 14 months during the War. Sam received the Bronze Star and the Distinguished Service Cross and two Air Medals. He had been on 82 combat missions, while on temporary duty with the Air Force. When he came back from Korea, he attended Chouinard Art Institute and continued working in films.
In 1935 as a boy, Sam had worked for John Ford in a film about the Irish Troubles, "The Plough and The Stars." In it he played an Irish urchin who was mimicking the British commandant by carrying a broken stick under his arm like the Commander’s swagger stick and pretending to lead the troops. Later the kids threw rocks into a Pub’s window in the film. John Ford liked him and whenever they would meet, Ford would remind him that they would work together again. Ford also liked servicemen and was a Purple Heart man himself. When Sam got back from Korea, he went with his veterans group to a dinner as guests of a motion picture Purple Heart group at the Maskers, which was behind the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. As Sam recalls, "When I was introduced and they mentioned the DSC, there was a small round of applause and I sat down. But one person kept clapping and it was kind of embarrassing so I looked around and saw it was John Ford." John came up to him afterwards and told him that he always intended to use him again and was now going to use him in a supporting role in "The Long Gray Line" starring Tyrone Power.
Sam completed his studies at Chouinard Art Institute and had gotten a job freelancing doing artwork at Twentieth Century Fox advertising on coming attractions. After three films Lyle Wheeler, who was Head art director of 20th Century Fox, was able to offer him a job in the art department as Sam had then earned a union card but Lyle couldn’t hire him till then. At that time Sam had a call from Ford’s office for him to report for the film, "The Long Gray Line." Wanting to tell Ford in person why he couldn’t do the film, Sam reported to Casting but was told that Ford wasn’t available. Instead he explained to them that he wouldn’t be able to work on the film as he was starting a new art career at
20th Century Fox instead. Sam wrote to John Ford in explanation but Ford never did answer Sam’s letter.
In Sam’s personal life, Sam dated many lovely nice girls. While in his early twenties he had dated a girl named Dorothy Hayes, who was sister to Virginia, the girl that his older brother David was dating. However Gramps had impressed on both boys that they shouldn’t go crazy and just fall head over heels for the first blonde that they met and should proceed with caution as they had a responsibility to their mother. Both boys took this to heart and always did take care of their mother. David married Virginia in 1952 and her younger sister Dorothy visited often. Gramps kept telling Sam that Dorothy was the right girl for him and eventually Sam and Dorothy were married in 1955. Sam told her after they were wed what his grandfather had told him and she asked "why didn’t you listen to him sooner?" David and Virginia had 3 girls, while Sam and Dorothy had 2 boys, who grew up together almost as brothers and sisters.
Only nine months after he started at Fox, there were layoffs and Lyle Wheeler suggested Sam take some of his artwork from Fox on loan to add to his portfolio and go over to Disney as Walt was building a new Park that was tentatively going to be called Disneyland. There were several of the Fox people there already and Lyle recommended that Sam contact Marvin Davis or Dick Irvine, which he did and was immediately hired. The first week he was there, he and another artist were working through the lunch hour, eating the food they had brought but keeping it off their work. Sam remembers that they heard hard heels coming down the hall that stopped at their door and this face with a moustache looked around the door and said " Hi, I’m Walt Disney, who are you? " Sam introduced himself as coming from 20th Century Fox and his friend, Fred Hartman from MGM. Walt replied "Great, I’m glad you studio people are coming over to help me with my Park. See you." And with that he was off. A few days later they passed in the hall and Walt said "Hi, Sam" and that was Sam’s first experience with Walt’s remarkable memory for people and names.