May 19 - Alan Young

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On this day, in 2016, Angus Young passed away in Woodland Hills, California. Alan, as he became known, was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England on November 19, 1919 (as he got older he tried to move his birth date up to 1924, but the official record didn't fall for that trick). As a toddler, his Scottish parents briefly moved the family to Edinburgh, finally relocating to British Columbia, Canada when he was six. Alan suffered from severe asthma as a child and was stuck in bed a good deal of the time because of it. During those long bedridden hours, he listened to massive amounts of radio programs and fell in love with all of them. When he hit high school, he managed to get his own radio show with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation doing comedy sketches. When World War II came along, he gave it all up, joining the Royal Canadian Navy to prove himself. Unfortunately, the RCN planned to use him as a writer for their radio programming, not as a fighter on the front. When Alan found out, he resigned the Navy, intending to join the Canadian Army instead. The Army said no thanks, your asthma isn't something we want to deal with (which given the prevalence of gas based warfare, was the right decision) and Alan's patriotic fervor would go unfulfilled.  He moved to Toronto and restarted his radio career.

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In 1944, Alan was noticed by an American agent who enticed him to move to New York. He started with appearances on the Philco Radio Hall of Fame, but quickly got his own program, The Alan Young Show, which ran off and on for six years before making the leap to television for three more seasons. On the small screen, The Alan Young Show would pick up two Emmy Awards, one for Best Variety Show and one for Lead Comedy Actor.

Alan debuted on the silver screen in 1946 as Roy Hornsdale in the romantic comedy Margie. Throughout the rest of the Forties and Fifties, he regularly appeared in films, mostly comedies, starring alongside the likes of Jane Russell in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, William Frawley (of I Love Lucy fame) in Chicken Every Sunday, Peter Sellers in Tom Thumb and as the title character in George Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion.

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In 1961, Alan began his run in his most famous live action role, Wilbur Post, on the hit CBS comedy Mister Ed. Most television shows have their initial runs on a network and then live beyond their cancellations (sometimes for decades) in syndication, the process by which all the episodes of a show are made available to local channels to buy and use to fill in gaps in national programming. Often times, early episodes of a show will enter syndication before it gets cancelled, which is how you might see season seven of something once a week on NBC but seasons one through five on your local Fox station every afternoon during the same time period. Some programs, like game shows, might spend their entire lives in syndication, never having prime time runs on a network. Mister Ed is a rare show that started out in syndication, became popular and was picked up by a network, CBS in this case. It might be fairly corny by today’s standards, but the thought of a talking horse in the early Sixties was pretty novel and having a pro comedian like Alan along for the ride gave the premise enough legs to last six seasons. It turns out that Bamboo Harvest, the horse that played Mr. Ed, was a pro as well. The crew only had to manually move his lips for a short time before he did it himself when prompted with a touch and eventually moved them when Alan stopped talking, like any other actor.

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Following the end of Mister Ed’s run in 1966, Alan filmed another pilot episode for a show called Mr. Terrific but declined to star in it when CBS decided to pick it up. Instead, he semi-retired from acting for several years. Actively involved with the Christian Science Church, he helped them set up a broadcasting division during this period.

By the early Seventies Alan was looking to get back into acting and started a new career as a voice over artist. His first project for Disney was the 1974 Disneyland Records album An Adaptation of Dicken's Christmas Carol, Performed by the Walt Disney Players (yes that mouthful is the full title). Alan co-wrote the script for it and performed several voices for it. He played Mickey Mouse (the one and only time he ever did) as Bob Cratchit, Morty Fieldmouse as Tiny Tim, Merlin as the Ghost of Christmas Past and, for the first time, Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. Alan's portrayal of Scrooge marked the first time the wealthy duck had ever had a true Scottish accent. He said that he modeled the voice after his own Scottish father. Alan was so good at bringing Scrooge to life, he would portray McDuck for the next four decades.

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Eight years later, Alan reprised the role of Scrooge as Ebenezer for a reissue of the 1974 record in anticipation of a big screen adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Next of course, came Mickey's Christmas Carol (Alan only did Scrooge for that one), which was followed by every episode of DuckTales. That spawned several read along books, a DuckTales movie, more Disneyland Records, a Disney on Ice show, theme park shows and parades, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, House of Mouse episodes, Kingdom Hearts video games and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. You name it, Alan did it, from that 1974 record right up to the recent new Mickey shorts, making him one of the longest continuous voices of a Disney character ever.

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And Scrooge isn't the only thing Alan did for Disney. He was also the voice of Hiram Flaversham in The Great Mouse Detective and played Doctor Winger in the1978 comedy The Cat From Outer Space with Ken Berry and Sandy Duncan.



Outside of Disney, Alan returned to television, making guest appearances on dozens of shows from The Love Boat to ER to Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He ramped up the Scottishness for Ren and Stimpy as Haggis McHaggis and for the video game The Curse of Monkey Island as Haggis McMutton (is that really the only name writers can come up with for a tartan wearing character). His voice was heard on Batman: The Animated Series, Spiderman and His Amazing Friends, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Smurfs, Scooby and Scrappy Doo and A Flintstone Family Christmas. Even though he was well into his nineties, Alan showed no signs of wanting to slow down. He was all set to record stuff for the reboot of DuckTales. Scrooge had been recast (Dr. Who fans were tickled to know it was now David Tennant's character) but Alan was going to play someone different. It didn't come to be however. Before he could get into the recording booth, the man TV Guide once called the Charlie Chaplin of television passed away in his sleep at his assisted living home in Woodland Hills, California in May 2016. He was 96 years Young.

April 15 - Hans Conried

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On this day, in 1917, Hans Georg Conried was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Raised as an only child (he had a brother who died at the age of five and a half-brother who lived elsewhere), Hans was pretty much given everything he could ever want as a child. He began appearing in local stage shows (mostly Shakespearean plays) at the age of 12. After graduating from high school, he attended Columbia University in New York City to study commercial art (at the urging of his father) and acting (because he wanted to). By 1934, his father’s failing health left Hans as the sole supporter of the family. It was soon decided that the Conried Clan should move to Southern California to see if the change of climate would help dear old dad. Once the family was settled, Hans spent his days working for a sports equipment manufacturer and his nights on stage with the Santa Monica Players.

One day, in late 1935, Hans heard an announcement on his favorite radio station that they were going to add locally produced broadcasts of uncut Shakespeare works. He got so excited by the prospect that he went to the station and basically accosted the manager with his enthusiasm. Once the manager understood that Hans wasn’t there to complain, he took note of the young man’s wonderful voice and extensive Shakespearean credits and hired him to be a part of the upcoming broadcasts. On January 14, 1936, Hans began his radio career as part of the cast of KECA’s live broadcast of Othello. He would be a regular voice on airwaves for the next two decades. He was a regular on Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood, Ceiling Unlimited with Orson Welles and spent several years playing the dim witted Professor Kropotkin on My Friend Irma.

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Hans made the leap to the silver screen in 1938. His first role was as a snobbish student in the MGM romantic comedy Dramatic School, starring Paulette Goddard and Luise Rainer. While he would appear in dozens of films over the years, none of his roles really ever rose above that of bit part (in fact most of them for the first two years were uncredited). He often said that the highlight of his movie career came in 1953 when he got to star in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, the only movie ever written by Dr. Seuss. The film was a dismal financial and critical failure (so much so that Dr. Seuss tried his best never to mention it, ever) but Hans felt it was the most fun he’d ever had making a movie.

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When World War II finally came to America in 1941, Hans, as the only surviving son in his family, managed to keep from being drafted until September 1944. He was sent to be trained as a tank crewman, but the Army quickly realized that he was too tall for the job. He was then moved into a heavy artillery unit and shipped out to the Philippines. He wasn’t there long before Jack Kruschen, a friend and fellow actor, got him moved into the Armed Forces Radio Service. Hans spent the remainder of his tour there, travelling around Japan, Korea and the Philippines, setting up radio stations and performing for his fellow troops. While there he fell in love with Japanese culture and became a lifelong self-proclaimed Japanophile (his word).

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After returning to the United States in 1946, Hans began what would become the bread and butter of his career for the next thirty years: television appearances. One of his first gigs was on a quiz show produced in Los Angeles call Pantomime Quiz. An amiable rivalry sprung up on the show between Hans and his good friend, Vincent Price, and their often hilarious back and forth played out over several seasons. He quickly became one of the early popular personalities on the small screen through his frequent guest shots on The Jack Paar Show starting in the late Fifties. From then on, he had guest appearances on everything from I Love Lucy to The Love Boat. But his strongest collaborative relationship that beamed into everyone’s living rooms on a regular basis was with the animating team of Jay Ward and Bill Scott. The creative duo were the masterminds behind Crusader Rabbit, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends and Hoppity Hooper. Hans provided the voice for Snidely Whiplash on Rocky and Bullwinkle, Uncle Waldo on Hooper and was the live action host for Jay's Fractured Flickers (where he used many of his friends from Pantomime Quiz as interviewees). 

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Hans cemented his place in the Disney family when he took on dual roles in the company's 14th animated feature, Peter Pan. Not only did he play George Darling, he also gave voice to (and filmed the live action reference pieces for) the classic villain Captain Hook (which is the traditional way to cast those parts). As if that weren't enough, he played two roles in the classic short Ben and Me (Thomas Jefferson and a crook), was the prosecutor in The Story of Anyburg, USA, JB in The Goofy Success Story and became the Slave in the Magic Mirror for several episodes of Wonderful World of Color. On the live action front, Hans appeared as Thimblerig in the Davy Crockett series, Professor Whatley in The Shaggy D.A., and as Dr. Heffel in The Cat From Outer Space.

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In between all his screen appearances, Hans found time to grace stages, both on and off Broadway, as well. He was part of the original Broadway casts of Cole Porter's Can-Can, Candor and Ebbs' 70, Girls, 70, and a revival of Irene. Throughout the Sixties and early Seventies, he loved to take on regional theater productions or even join touring companies. His days of live theater, however, came to a halt one day in 1974, when he suffered a mild stroke. He recovered but was never again quite able to handle to physical stress of performing night after night. It also put a damper on his live action career in general. He soldiered on, though, and remained an active voice over actor right up to the end of life. He suffered a mild heart attack in 1979, then, on January 4, 1982, he had a major one. The following day, he passed away in a hospital in Burbank, California. He was only 64.

February 20 - Sandy Duncan

On this day, in 1946, Sandra Kay Duncan was born in Henderson, Texas. Growing up in nearby Tyler, Texas, Sandy began her professional career when she was just 12, earning $150 a week in a local production of The King and I. after spending some time at Lon Morris Junior College, a Methodist school in Jacksonville, Texas, she left the Lone Star State for the Great White Way. She enjoyed moderate success, appearing in a number of productions throughout the Sixties (including her first run of Peter Pan, playing Wendy), culminating in a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress (Musical) for 1969's short lived production of Canterbury Tales. Around the same time she did get some recognition (at least in California) for a humorous commercial she did for the United California Bank (now a part of Wells Fargo) and some national attention for a brief stint on Search For Tomorrow, CBS' long running soap opera.

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The beginning of the Seventies saw the beginning of bigger and better things for Sandy, even if a lot of them ended up having limited runs. She earned another Tony nomination, this time for Best Actress (Musical) for the 1970 revival  of The Boyfriend. A year later she starred in the film version of Neil Simon's play The Star Spangled Girl opposite Tony Roberts. Later that year, Sandy landed the lead in a CBS sitcom Funny Face, loosely based on the 1957 movie. With a prime time Saturday night spot right after All in the Family, the show had everything going for it, except two things: critics praised Sandy but dismissed the show and a tumor was discovered behind Sandy's left eye. Filming of Funny Face was put on hiatus while Sandy went in for surgery. The tumor turned out to be benign but she lost all vision on her left side. Contrary to popular belief, she does not have a glass eye. Since her left eye still tracked with her right one, the decision was made to leave it alone. Sandy made a quick recovery from her surgery, but it was too late for Funny Face. Even though she earned an Emmy nomination for her work, the show ended after just 13 episodes. Sort of.

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In the Fall of 1972, Sandy returned to television in a New and Improved version of Funny Face, now called The Sandy Duncan Show. The retooled show had essentially the same premise but a new cast (including Tom Bosley), new writers and a new time slot, on Sunday instead of Saturday. Once again, critics liked Sandy but hated the show. Without the strong lead-in of All in the Family, The Sandy Duncan Show also lasted just 13 episodes before being cancelled.

The rest of the decade saw Sandy appearing in several one-off productions. In 1976, she played Pinocchio in a musical adaptation on CBS that also starred Flip Wilson and Danny Kaye. She followed that up with an episode of The Muppet Show, starred in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies (as herself) and grabbed another Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Missy Anne Reynolds in Roots, a rare dramatic role. She ended the Seventies by returning to Broadway for her biggest show yet: another production of Peter Pan, but this time she played the title role, earning a third Tony nomination.

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Sandy joined the Disney family in 1970 starring opposite Dean Jones in the mostly forgettable comedy The Million dollar Duck. In 1974, she had a television special called Sandy in Disneyland and returned to the park for another special in 1976, Christmas in Disneyland. Then in 1978, she starred in The Cat from Outer Space, with Ken Berry and Roddy McDowall. But it's arguable that her best known Disney role (or at least the one that still gets regular viewings) came in 1981 when she was the voice of Vixey, Tod's foxy girlfriend who helps him survive in the wild, for The Fox and the Hound.

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Sandy's big television success finally arrived in 1987 on The Hogan Family, but it wasn't without controversy. The Hogan Family had started life two years earlier as Valerie, starring Valerie Harper. When Valerie was renewed for a third season, Harper wanted more money, was denied and walked out on the show. While negotiations continued, the feud with the network got ugly. Harper's character ended up being killed off, Sandy was brought in as a replacement and the show survived for four more seasons, marking the first time a show named after an actor continued on without its marquee name.

Since The Hogan Family ended its run in 1991, Sandy had kept busy with, mostly, a variety of stage performances. She played Roxy Hart in Chicago for two years, toured the country in a production of The King and I (as Anna this time, not one of the kids) and returned to Broadway in 2016 as Madame du Maurier in Finding Neverland. What else will the 72 year old spitfire do in her career? Only time will tell, but I can almost guarantee its perkiness will make you smile.