2024: Disney Legends in Memoriam

As 2025 begins, it’s a good time to pay tribute to the legendary performers we lost in 2024. This blog post will acknowledge a few of those performers (as well as their contributions to the Walt Disney Company).

1. Glynis Johns (October 5th, 1923-January 4th, 2024). Johns’ most beloved role was the role of Mrs. Winifred Banks, mother of Jane and Michael Banks, in Mary Poppins (1964). Besides “Poppins” she also made The Sword and the Rose and Rob Roy for Disney in 1953. Outside Disney, Johns appeared in The Court Jester (1956) opposite Danny Kaye, and she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nomination appearing in the film The Sundowners (1961) with Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. Johns was also known for originating the role of Desiree Armfeldt, the character who sings “Send In The Clowns.” in Broadway’s Original Production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music in 1973. She won the 1973 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical as a result.
2. Dabney Coleman (January 3rd, 1932-May 16th, 2024). Coleman was best known for playing “bad guys,” like the evil Franklin Hart Jr. in Nine to Five (1980). For Disney, Coleman voiced Principal Peter Prickly in Disney Channel’s Recess (1997-2001) and the movie Recess: School’s Out (2001). He appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie My Date With The President’s Daughter (1998) as well as War Games (1983) and Disney’s Inspector Gadget (1998), both of which starred Matthew Broderick as the main protagonist. In addition, Coleman received an Emmy for his role in the television movie Sworn to Silence (1987), a Golden Globe for The Slap Maxwell Story (1987-1988), and two SAGs (Screen Actors Guilds) for Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014).
3. James Earl Jones (January 17th, 1931-September 9th, 2024). Jones will forever be remembered as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars (1977-present) franchise and Mufasa in Disney’s original The Lion King (1994) and the 2019 remake. But, Jones received a Best Actor Oscar Nomination for The Great White Hope (1971) and acted in two beloved baseball flicks: Oscar-nomianted Field of Dreams (1989) and The Sandlot (1993). Jones also portrayed King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America (1988) starring Eddie Murphy. He reprised the role of Joffer in the Amazon Prime Sequel Coming 2 America (2021), again starring Murphy, and the film was one of his last two acting credits. The other was voicing Darth Vader in the Disney+ original series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022).
4. Joan Plowright (October 28th, 1929-January 16th, 2025). Dame Joan Plowright was an undisputed “lady of the theatre” in her British homeland. But her Disney roles included portraying Nanny in Disney’s live-action 101 Dalmatians (1996) and voicing the Brachiosaurus Baylene in Dinosaur (2000). She received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nomination for Enchanted April (1993), and that same year starred as Mrs. Wilson in Dennis the Menace (1993). (Both “Dennis the Menace” and “101 Dalmatians” were written and produced by John Hughes). She also won a Tony for Best Actress in a Play for “A Taste of Honey,” and she won the Laurence Olivier Award (equivalent of Tony Awards in London’s West End) for the play Filumena. (The Olivier awards are, of course, named for her husband, Sir Laurence Olivier, whom she married in 1961.)

There are sadly many more stars that passed away in 2024, but these four actors are nonetheless special—and very special to me personally given their Disney connections. Each lived long lives and built remarkable careers. It’s sad to see them go, but we will always have their excellent work!