The One That Started it All

Once upon a time, in Kansas City, MO, a 15-year-old boy named Walter “Walt” Elias Disney went to see the silent film Snow White (1916) for free at the Kansas City Convention Centre. 18 years later, in 1934, when Walt finally achieved his dream of having an animation studio, he announced to all of his staff that they were to begin work on their own version of the Snow White fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), and that it was to be a feature-length (90 minute) film instead of a 6-8 minute short like the cartoons the studio had been producing.

Disney’s staff was impressed but intimidated at the idea of making a 90 minute film, as was his brother Roy and wife Lillian, both of whom even tried to discourage Walt from making the film. In addition, the other filmmakers in Hollywood mockingly nicknamed the project “Disney’s Folly.” But Walt was determined to produce the film no matter the cost and no matter what anyone else thought. Throughout production of the film Walt suffered financial and artistic/creative difficulties-Disney thought that the film would cost $150,000 and $250,000, but it wound up costing $1,488,423. That cost led to the studio being on the verge of bankruptcy, as they had to hire more and more animators, inbetweeners, and voice actors, many of whom were also the voices of other classic Disney characters.    

Pinto Colvig who voiced Grumpy, Sleepy, and provided the hiccup noises for Dopey in the film was also the voice of Goofy at the studio from 1932-1939 and then again from 1944-1965. He also voiced Pluto from 1931-1961 and Practical Pig in The Three Little Pigs (1933). Otis Harlan voiced Happy, and also voiced Mr. Mole in Bambi (1942). Billy Gilbert voiced Sneezy as well as Willie the Giant in Fun & Fancy Free (1947). (Gilbert was given the part of Sneezy by walking into Walt Disney’s office and sneezing five times and after each sneeze Walt said “You’ve got the job.)

Despite being on the verge of bankruptcy, Walt and his animators managed to receive a loan from the Bank of America to finish the film in time for it’s premiere at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, California on December 21st, 1937, (its 80th anniversary is this December). To the surprise of everyone who worked on the film, as well as those who doubted it would even work, the film became an enormous success. It was well-received by audiences and critics alike, and even grossed $416 million dollars at the box-office! Its finances paved the way for Disney to produce Pinocchio three years later in 1940 and the groundbreaking technology of the film also served as the inspiration for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to produce The Wizard of Oz (1939). It temporarily was the highest-grossing motion picture in America at the time, being replaced in that rank by Gone With the Wind (1939) in 1940. Mickey Mouse was the foundation for Disney Animation-but “Snow White,” started its “film dynasty.”   

Actors and their “John Hancock” Roles

When we think of movie stars and the roles that they are best known for, we most often think of people like Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939) or Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2003-2017). We all have our “favorite characters” and the actors who played them. However, there are nine actors who created their best known on-screen role on Broadway first, then won both a Tony for the show, and an Oscar for the film version:  

Jack Albertson for his role as “John Clearly,” in The Subject Was Roses (1968). Albertson won the Tony for the role on Broadway in 1964 and then the Oscar for the film version in 1968. 10 years after originating the role of John Clearly on Broadway, Albertson created the character of “Ed Brown,” on television for the series Chico and the Man (1974-1978) for which he won an Emmy in 1976.    

Anne Bancroft for her role as “Anne Sullivan,” in The Miracle Worker (1962). Bancroft won the Tony in 1960 and then the Oscar for the film in 1962. She also received a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actress: Drama for her performance in the film, but was beaten by Geraldine Page in The Sweet Bird of Youth (1962). Bancroft did, however, beat Page in the Oscars.

Shirley Booth for her role as “Lola Delaney,” in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952). Booth won the Tony for the role in 1950, and the then won the Oscar for the film in 1952. Unlike Anne Bancroft, Booth also won the Golden Globe for Best Actress: Drama for her performance.

Yul Brynner for his role as “King Mongkut of Siam,” in The King and I (1956). Brynner won the Tony in 1952 and the Oscar in 1956. Brynner reprised the role for two Broadway revivals and won an additional Tony for portraying the character of King Mongkut for a total of 4,625 performances on Broadway. When “The King and I,” was revived in 1977, one of Brynner’s co-stars in the show was future Tony-Award-Nominee Martin Vidnovic. Vidnovic later voiced the King of Siam himself in Warner Bros. animated adaptation of The King and I in 1999. (I also had the privilege of seeing Mr. Vidnovic perform the role of King onstage, opposite Sandy Duncan, at the Music Hall at Fair Park in Downtown Dallas in the early 2000’s.)

Viola Davis for her role as Rose Maxson in Fences (2016). Davis won the Tony for a Broadway Revival of “Fences,” in 2010 and the Oscar in 2016. Davis also won the Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe. The role of Rose Maxson was actually originated by Mary Alice in 1987, who also won a Tony for her performance. 

Jose Ferrer for his role as Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950). Ferrer won the Tony in 1947 and the Oscar in 1950, making him the first Puerto Rican actor ever to win a Best Actor Oscar. Ferrer also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture: Drama. (The role of Cyrano de Bergerac was recreated by Gerard Depardieu in a film of the same name in 1990. Depardieu also received a Best Actor Oscar Nomination for his performance.)

Joel Grey for his role as the “Emcee/Master of Ceremonies,” in Cabaret (1972). Grey won the Tony in 1967 and the Oscar in 1972. He also won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in 1972. He reprised the role for a Broadway revival of the show in 1987 where he was also awarded the Drama Desk Award. When “Cabaret,” was revived on Broadway again in 1998, Alan Cumming stepped into the role of the Master of Ceremonies and he also won a Tony for his performance as the character.

Rex Harrison for his role as “Professor Henry Higgins,” in My Fair Lady (1964). Harrison won the Tony in 1957 and the Oscar in 1964. Harrison also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy. He reprised the role of Henry Higgins for a Broadway revival of the show in 1981. When Harrison won the Oscar, he dedicated the award to his “Fair Ladies,” Julie Andrews, whom he had starred opposite on Broadway and Audrey Hepburn whom he had starred opposite on film. In 1984, Harrison Harrison received another Tony Award Nomination for his performance as Captain Shotover in the play “Heartbreak House,” by George Bernard Shaw. Shaw wrote “Pygmalion,” which is the play that inspired “My Fair Lady.”

Paul Scofield for his role as “Sir Thomas Moore,” in A Man for All Seasons (1966). Scofield won the Tony in 1962 and the Oscar in 1966. Scofield also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor: Drama. While Scofield made several films throughout his career, the original Broadway Production of “A Man for All Seasons,” would be his only Broadway play.                   

There is no doubt that these nine actors are among the greatest actors of all time, having been able to master these roles on both stage and screen. While many of them have other identifiable roles, these remain recognized as some of their best work.

Disney’s Naval Academy

From October 11th, 1962 to April 12th, 1966, the ABC Network aired the sitcom McHale’s Navy. The series featured the misadventures of a Patrol Torpedo Boat crew during World War II. The series received a total of five Emmy Nominations during its run on ABC and spawned the creation of three theatrical films, including McHale’s Navy (1964), McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force (1965), and McHale’s Navy (1997). Did you know that several of the regular cast members of that show have connections to the Walt Disney Studios?

Ernest Borgnine who portrayed Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale on “McHale’s Navy,” received an Emmy Nomination for Best Actor for his performance as McHale in the first season. Before “McHale’s Navy,” was picked up as a series, Borgnine portrayed McHale opposite Tim Conway and Joe Flynn in a one-hour anthology drama series entitled Seven Against the Sea which aired as an episode of the series Alcoa Premiere (1961-1963) a series hosted by Fred Astaire. In “Seven Against the Sea,” Tim Conway and Joe Flynn also originated their roles from “McHale’s Navy.” Borgnine reprised his role as Lt. Cmdr. McHale for McHale’s Navy (1964) and appeared in the role of Cobra in McHale’s Navy (1997). For the Walt Disney Studios, Borgnine acted in the film The Black Hole (1979). Borgnine also lent his voice to the Nickelodeon Animated Series SpongeBob SqaurePants (1999-present) as SpongeBob’s favorite superhero, Mermaid Man.

Tim Conway, who played the role of Ensign Charles Parker on “McHale’s Navy,” received on Emmy Nomination for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Parker in the first season as well. Conway reprised that role for McHale’s Navy (1964) and McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). For Disney, Conway starred as Amos Tucker opposite Don Knotts as Theodore Ogelvie in The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) and its sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979). He portrayed Milo Jackson in The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973) and Tim in The Shaggy D.A. (1976). Conway took over the role of Sheriff Sniffer from good friend Don Knotts in the Disney direct-to-video series Air Buddies (2006-present): (spin-off of the movie Air Bud (1997)), and voiced Mr. Peterson in the Disney Channel Original Series, The Proud Family (2001-2005). Like Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway also lent his voice to “SpongeBob SquarePants,” as SpongeBob’s other favorite superhero, Barnacle Boy. In addition, Conway voiced to the seagull in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015).

Joe Flynn played Captain Wallace B. Binghamton on “McHale’s Navy.” Like Borgnine and Conway, Flynn reprised his role as Captain Binghamton in McHale’s Navy (1964) and McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). Flynn made his Disney debut as Rex Williams and a TV Commercial announcer in Son of Flubber (1963), the sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). He played Havershaw in The Love Bug (1968) and P.J. Applegate in the Disney television series Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color in 1969. The same year as “Wonderful World of Color,” Flynn landed the role of Dean Higgins in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), a role that he reprised for its two sequels, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (1972) and The Strongest Man in the World (1975). In between those films, Flynn played Francis X. Wilbanks in The Barefoot Executive (1971), which reunited him with Kurt Russell from “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” trilogy, and Finley Hooper in The Million Dollar Duck (1971), which reunited him with Dean Jones from “The Love Bug.” Flynn reunited with Kurt Russell for a 5th time in the Disney film Superdad (1973) where he played the role of Cyrus Hershberger and provided the voice of Mr. Snoops in The Rescuers (1977) before his untimely death of a drowning accident at the age of 49 on July 19th, 1974.

Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, and Joe Flynn were all best known for their roles on “McHale’s Navy.” Each, however, had a unique sense of humor, which served as an asset to their work for the Walt Disney Studios. These three actors maintained close friendships until Joe Flynn’s death and Ernest Borgnine’s death on July 8th, 2012 at the age of 95. 

Angela Lansbury: Entertainment, She Wrote

Angela Lansbury has 70-year career in show business and was one of the very first actors ever to make it big in Film, Television, and Broadway, (including two roles in two beloved Disney films). Across the mediums, she played a variety of women that range from a determined detective, a ruthless maternal communist, a spoiled princess, an ambitious apprentice witch, a neglectful stage mother, and even a friendly, cockney teapot. Bringing believability, vivacity, and sheer talent, Dame Angela Lansbury has one of the most extraordinary bodies of work ever, and I thought we would explore that in this blog.

Angela Brigid Lansbury was born in Regent’s Park, London, England on October 16th, 1925. Her father, Edgar Lansbury, was a British politician and timber merchant and her mother was actress Moyna Macgill. Angela’s father unfortunately died of stomach cancer when she was 9 years old, and when WW2 broke out through Britain, Angela relocated to the United States with her mother and younger brothers, Bruce and Edgar. There she was fortunate enough to gain a scholarship from the American Theatre Wing where studied at the Feagin School of Drama and Radio in New York City. Soon, she was headed for Hollywood.    

Angela Lansbury agreed to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the age of 18 and made her film debut in the movie Gaslight (1944), earning an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. While she lost that year to Ethel Barrymoore in None But the Lonely Hart (1944), she was nominated the following year again in the category of Best Supporting Actress for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). She lost again that year to Anne Revere in National Velvet (1945), but was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. She received another Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as her third and final Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nomination for her performance as Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962)—arguably one of her best film performances! Despite these accolades, Lansbury grew tired of being cast as a supporting player in movies, and decided to have a crack at Broadway.

Lansbury’s first starring role on stage came at the age of 41 in the role of Mame Dennis in the musical Mame starring opposite close friend Beatrice Arthur as Vera Charles. “Mame,” opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in May 1966 to rave reviews, and Lansbury and Arthur both won Tony Awards for their performances. Lansbury won a second Tony three years later in 1969 for her performance in the musical, The Madwoman of Chaillot. Her success on Broadway allowed her to return to movies.     

Angela Lansbury’s first film appearance in the 1970s was in Something for Everyone (1970), opposite Michael York. The very next year, Lansbury made her first Disney film appearance in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Julie Andrews was offered the role of Miss Eglantine Price before Lansbury was cast, but declined.  (Ironically, Lansbury had also been in consideration for the role of Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins (1964) before Andrews was cast in that role.) “Bedknobs,” featured many of the same members of the cast and crew behind “Poppins,” including actors David Tomlinson, Arthur Malet, and Reginald Owen, as well as composers/lyricists Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, co-producer Bill Walsh, screenwriter Don DaGradi, and director Robert Stevenson. “Bedknobs,” was also Lansbury’s first movie-musical role as a leading lady. For both “Bedknobs,” and “Something for Everyone,” she received Golden Globe Nominations for Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy.  

20 years after “Bedknobs,” Angela Lansbury was re-hired by the Walt Disney Studios to provide the voice of the character of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast (1991). (Ironically, Julie Andrews was also in consideration for the role of Mrs. Potts as well before Lansbury accepted this part.) Lansbury was at first, intimidated at the idea of singing the “Beauty and the Beast” title song in the film when she was sent the demo by Composer Alan Menken and Lyricist Howard Ashman. Menken and Ashman had recorded the demo of the song as though it were a rock’and’roll song, but she reconsidered thanks to co-directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise.

When it came time to record the song, Lansbury had to fly from L.A. to New York to record the song with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and her flight was delayed due to a bomb scare. Producer Don Hahn offered to postpone the recording, but Lansbury insisted that she would still come in. By the time her flight landed, Hahn offered again to postpone the recording, but Lansbury still was intent on coming in to record the song. By the time she got there, she recorded the song with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in one take, and that take wound up being used in the final cut of the film. Her accolades continued with a Grammy Award for Best Album Recording for Children (“Beauty and the Beast”). In addition to all her work on Film, Broadway, and Television, she became known to millions for her work on the eighties TV hit, Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996).

Lansbury has also done many other special appearances for Disney. She made a cameo as a presenter to one of the animated segments in Fantasia 2000 (1999) and narrated the documentaries Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Still the Fairest of Them All (2001) and The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics (2008). She also appeared in the film Nanny McPhee (2005) opposite Emma Thompson who is currently succeeding her in the role of Mrs. Potts in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (2017) She will next be seen as the Balloon Lady in Disney’s sequel to “Poppins,” Mary Poppins Returns (2018).

She was awarded a well-deserved Honorary Oscar for her incredible body of work in 2014. And at 91 years of age, Dame Angela Lansbury is showing no signs of retirement at all!