Alan Young
Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British, Canadian and American actor, comedian, radio host and television host, whom TV Guide called "the Charlie Chaplin of television". His notable roles include Wilbur Post in the television comedy Mister Ed (1961–1966) and voicing Disney's Scrooge McDuck for over 40 years, first in the 1974 Disneyland Records album An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players. This was followed by the Academy Award-nominated short film Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and then in various other films, TV series and video games until his death. During the 1940s and 1950s, Young starred in his own variety-comedy sketch shows The Alan Young Show on radio and television, the latter gaining him two Emmy Awards in 1951. He also appeared in a number of feature films, starting from 1946, including the 1960 film The Time Machine and from the 1980s gaining a new generation of viewers appearing in numerous Walt Disney Productions films as both an actor and voice actor.
Alan Young | |
|---|---|
Young in 1944 | |
| Born | Angus Young November 19, 1919 North Shields, Northumberland, England |
| Died | May 19, 2016 (aged 96) Woodland Hills, California, U.S. |
| Citizenship |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1939–2016 |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 4 |
| Awards | Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actor |
Early life
Young was born as Angus Young on November 19, 1919, in North Shields, Northumberland, England, to Scottish parents. In his later years he claimed he had been born in 1924. His father was a mine worker and a tap dancer, and his mother was a singer. The family moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, when Young was a toddler and to West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, when he was six years old. Young came to love radio when bedridden as a child because of severe asthma.[1][2] By the time he was in high school, Young had his own comedy radio series on the CBC network, but he left it during the Second World War to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy.[1][3][4] He later resigned his Navy commission after learning he would be spending his time writing for a Navy show, and he attempted to join the Canadian Army. According to some sources, the Army rejected him due to his childhood asthma.[5]
Career
After leaving the service, Young moved to Toronto and resumed his Canadian radio career, where he was discovered by an American agent who brought him to New York City in 1944 to appear on American radio.[1] Young's first American radio appearances were on the Philco Radio Hall of Fame. This led to his own show, The Alan Young Show, NBC's summer replacement for the series The Eddie Cantor Show.[1] He switched to ABC two years later, then returned to NBC.[6]
Young's film debut was in Margie (1946), and he was featured in Chicken Every Sunday (1949).[7] In 1950, the television version of The Alan Young Show began. By 1951, the series received not only praise, but also several Primetime Emmy Awards, including Best Actor and Most Outstanding Personality for Young.[8] After its cancellation, Young continued to act in films, among which Androcles and the Lion (1952) and Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955), and two George Pal films, Tom Thumb (1958) and The Time Machine (1960). He appeared in the NBC espionage drama Five Fingers ("Thin Ice", 1959), starring David Hedison.[9]
Young was best known, however, for Mister Ed (1961–66), a CBS television show, in which he starred as Wilbur Post, the owner of Mr. Ed, a talking horse who would not talk to anyone but him, thus causing comic situations for Wilbur Post, with his wife, neighbors, and acquaintances.[10] In 1962 while not filming Mister Ed Young appeared as John Stetson (inventor of the famous western Stetson hat) on Death Valley Days in the episode "The Hat that Won the West." He also starred as Stanley Beamish in the unaired 1966 pilot episode of Mr. Terrific, but apparently declined to appear in the broadcast series in 1967 that followed. In the late 1960s, he retired from acting for several years. During that time, he founded a broadcast division for the Christian Science Church.[11]
During the 1970s, Young became active in voice acting. After 1974, he voiced Scrooge McDuck in numerous Disney films and in the popular series DuckTales (1987-1990). In Mickey's Christmas Carol, he portrayed the character's miserly namesake. He also played Scrooge in video games such as the Kingdom Hearts series, DuckTales: Remastered in 2013, and the Mickey Mouse cartoon "Goofy's First Love" released in 2015. Apart from Scrooge McDuck, his other prominent roles were Farmer Smurf on The Smurfs, Haggis McHaggis on The Ren & Stimpy Show, 7-Zark-7 & Keyop in Battle of the Planets, and Hiram Flaversham in The Great Mouse Detective. He also guest starred on The Love Boat, The Incredible Hulk, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.[12]
Young later starred in the sitcom Coming of Age for two seasons from 1988 to 1989. In 1991, Alan Young returned to the stage, starring as Cap'n Andy Hawkes in the California Musical Theatre's adaptation of Show Boat. He had been called for the role after Van Johnson, who was initially cast in the part, was hospitalised.[13] He had also appeared in the plays A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The Girl With the Freudian Slip. In 1993, he recreated his role as Filby for the mini-sequel to George Pal's The Time Machine, reuniting him with Rod Taylor, who had played George, the Time Traveller. It was called Time Machine: The Journey Back, directed by Clyde Lucas. In 1994, Young co-starred in the Eddie Murphy film Beverly Hills Cop III. He played the role of Uncle Dave Thornton, the Walt Disney-esque founder of the fictional California theme park Wonderworld, and in that same year, Young played the role of Charlie in the television film, Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is.[citation needed]
After 1994, he played at least eight characters, including antique dealer Jack Allen on the radio drama Adventures in Odyssey. In 1997, he did the voice of Haggis McMutton in the PC game The Curse of Monkey Island. His later guest roles in animated series included Megas XLR, Static Shock, House of Mouse, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Duckman, Batman: The Animated Series and TaleSpin.[14] In 2002, he had a cameo as the flower store worker in Simon Wells' remake of The Time Machine, and in 2010, he read H.G. Wells's original novel for 7th Voyage Productions, Inc. Young's television guest roles include Gibbsville, The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, St. Elsewhere, Coach, Party of Five, The Wayans Bros., USA High, Hang Time, ER, Maybe It's Me, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ("Sweet Charity", 1997) in which he played Zelda's love interest.[citation needed]
Personal life
Young was married three times.[15] He and Mary Anne Grimes were married from 1941 to 1947 and had two children, Young married his second wife Virginia McCurdy in 1948, and they had two children.[16] They divorced in 1995, with Young marrying Mary Chipman the following year, but Young and Chipman then divorced in 1997.[17][18] He dedicated his book Mr. Ed and Me to her.[19]
Young supported Ronald Reagan,[20] although he stated in a later interview that he was apolitical.[21]
Death
Young spent his later years in Woodland Hills, California, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, a retirement community, where he died of natural causes on May 19, 2016, at the age of 96,[15] and was buried at sea.[22]
Filmography
Radio
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Stag Party | Himself | |
| 1940–1944 | The Alan Young Show | Alan | Canadian version |
| 1944–1949 | The Alan Young Show | Alan | U.S. version |
| 1945 | The Old Gold Comedy Theater Known also as The Harold Lloyd Theatre | Bob Bennett | "Nothing but the Truth"[23] |
| 1947 | Hedda Hopper's This Is Hollywood | Roy Hornsdale | "Margie" |
| 1947–1948 | Texaco Star Theatre | Himself | |
| 1948–1949 | The Jimmy Durante Show | Co-host | |
| 1949–1950 | Family Theater | Johnny the Leprechaun, Donald | "The Leprechaun Who Didn't Listen" "The Lion Tamer" "My Terminal Moraine" |
| 1950 | The Jack Benny Program | Himself | |
| 1952 | Hollywood Star Playhouse | Ernie | "Nor Gloom of Night" |
| 1979 | Sears Radio Theater | Harry Silverman, Otto Glitch, Steve | "The Care and Feeding of a Sex Symbol" "The Terrible Dream of Mr. Glitch" "A Very Nice Couple" |
| 1994–2009, 2012 | Adventures in Odyssey | Jack Allen |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Margie | Roy Hornsdale | |
| 1949 | Chicken Every Sunday | Geoffrey Lawson | |
| 1949 | Mr. Belvedere Goes to College | Avery Brubaker | |
| 1952 | Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick | Aaron Slick | |
| 1952 | Androcles and the Lion | Androcles | |
| 1955 | Gentlemen Marry Brunettes | Charlie Biddle / Mrs. Biddle / Mr. Henry Biddle | |
| 1958 | Tom Thumb | Woody | |
| 1960 | The Time Machine | David Filby / James Filby | |
| 1976 | Baker's Hawk | Paul Carson | |
| 1978 | The Cat from Outer Space | Doctor Winger | |
| 1983 | Mickey's Christmas Carol | Scrooge McDuck | Voice, Animated short, also credited for "Story" |
| 1985 | The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal | Himself | Documentary |
| 1986 | The Great Mouse Detective | Hiram Flaversham (voice) | |
| 1987 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | White Knight (voice) | |
| 1990 | DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | |
| 1993 | Time Machine: The Journey Back | Filby | "Time Machine: The Journey Back" |
| 1993 | Disney Sing-Along Songs | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | "The Twelve Days of Christmas" |
| 1994 | Beverly Hills Cop III | Dave Thornton | |
| 1996 | The Flintstones Christmas in Bedrock | Additional voices | |
| 1999 | Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2002 | The Time Machine | Flower Store Worker | |
| 2004 | Em & Me | Grandfather | San Diego Film Festival Award for Best Actor Monaco International Festival Best Actor Award |
| 2004 | Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | Direct-to-video |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950–1953 | The Alan Young Show | Alan | Television version Lead Role Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1951) Nominated - Primetime Emmy for Most Outstanding Personality (1951) |
| 1954 | General Electric Theater | Alan Parker | "Wild Luke's Boy" |
| 1955 | Screen Director's Playhouse | Ernest Stockhoeffer/Vernon Hathaway | "The Life of Vernon Hathaway" |
| 1955–1956 | Studio One | George Abernathy, Timothy | "The Man Who Caught the Ball at Coogan's Bluff" "This Will Do Nicely" |
| 1956 | Chevron Hall of Stars | Robinson | "I Killed John Harrington" |
| 1956 | Matinee Theatre | "Ask Me No Questions" | |
| 1956 | Studio 57 | Hector Tutwilder | "Swing Your Partner, Hector" |
| 1956–1958 | The Steve Allen Show | Himself | 5 episodes |
| 1958 | Alan Young (TV series) | Alan | 3 episodes |
| 1959 | Five Fingers | Carl | "Thin Ice" |
| 1959 | Encounter | Wilbur Bowser | "The Last of the Hot Pilots" |
| 1960 | Startime | Clarence | "Tennessee Ernie Ford Meets King Arthur" |
| 1961–1966 | Mister Ed | Wilbur Post | Lead Role 143 episodes |
| 1962 | Death Valley Days | John Batterson Stetson | "The Hat That Won the West" |
| 1966 | Mr. Terrific | Stanley Beamish | TV pilot |
| 1976 | Gibbsville | Kanzler | "Saturday Night" |
| 1978–1980 | Battle of the Planets | 7-Zark-7, Keyop | Main Characters English dub 85 episodes |
| 1978, 1983 | The Love Boat | Ross, Phil Sharp | 2 episodes |
| 1980 | Humpty | Humpty Dumpty (voice) | |
| 1981 | Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends | Mr. Frump (voice) | "The Fantastic Mr. Frump" |
| 1982 | The Incredible Hulk | Cyclops (voice) | "The Cyclops Project" |
| 1982–1989 | The Smurfs | Farmer Smurf (voice) Miner Smurf (voice) Scaredy Smurf (voice) | 49 episodes |
| 1983 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | Grandpa Seville (voice) | "Grandpa and Grandma Seville" |
| 1983 | The Dukes | additional voices | 7 episodes |
| 1983 | The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show | Gaggy Rogers (voice) | "Wedding Bell Boos!" |
| 1983 | Saturday Supercade | additional voices | 13 episodes |
| 1983 | Mister T | Doctor Kirby (voice) | "Mystery on the Rocky Mountain Express" |
| 1984 | Robo Force | S.O.T.A. | TV film |
| 1984 | Down to Earth | Alistar Coogan | "Everything Old Is New Again" |
| 1986 | Murder, She Wrote | Floyd Nelson | "Keep the Home Fries Burning" |
| 1987 | St. Elsewhere | Knox | "A Coupla White Dummies Sitting Around Talking" |
| 1987–1990 | DuckTales | Scrooge McDuck/Narrator (voice) | Lead Role 97 episodes |
| 1988–1989 | Coming of Age | Ed Pepper | 15 episodes |
| 1990 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | "A DuckTales Valentine" |
| 1990 | TaleSpin | Doctor Cooper (voice) | "The Old Man and the Sea Duck" |
| 1990 | City | Donald | "Just a Passing Dad" |
| 1991 | Earth Angel | Norman | TV film |
| 1992 | Raw Toonage | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | "The Treasure of the Sierra Marsdre" |
| 1993 | Doogie Howser, M.D. | Doctor Emmitt Randall | "Eleven Angry People...and Vinnie" |
| 1993 | Coach | Ranger Farley | "One for the Road" |
| 1993 | A Flintstone Family Christmas | Mr. Gravelberry (voice) | TV film |
| 1994 | Batman: The Animated Series | Tod Baker (voice) | "Baby-Doll" |
| 1994 | Party of Five | Jack Gordon | "Homework" |
| 1994 | Hart to Hart | Charlie Loomis | "Home Is Where the Hart Is" |
| 1994–1995 | The Ren & Stimpy Show | Haggis McHaggis (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 1995 | Duckman | Wilbur Nelson (voice) | "America the Beautiful" |
| 1995 | Maybe This Time | Arthur | "Gracie Under Fire" |
| 1995 | The Wayans Bros. | Reverend Benton | "Loot" |
| 1997 | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Mr. Berry | "Sweet Charity" |
| 1997 | USA High | Mr. Phipps | "Goodbye, Mr. Phipps" |
| 1997 | Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Jake Gillespie | "Season 1 Episode 6 - The Diner” |
| 1998 | Kelly Kelly | Great Uncle Billy | "The Kilt Show" |
| 1998 | The Tony Danza Show | Doctor Harris | "Mini-pause" |
| 1999 | Mickey Mouse Works | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Rude Awakening | Priest | "Truth Don't Fail Me Now" |
| 2000 | Hang Time | Mr. McHenry | "That '60s Show" |
| 2000 | ER | Archie Mellonston | "Benton Backwards" |
| 2001 | God, the Devil and Bob | Wilbur Post (voice) | "God's Girlfriend" |
| 2001 | FreakyLinks | Henry | "Subject: Sunrise at Sunset Streams" |
| 2001 | Maybe It's Me | Abe Lasky | "The Hair Episode" |
| 2002 | Disney's House of Mouse | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2004 | Static Shock | Dr. McDonald (voice) | "Now You See Him" |
| 2004 | Megas XLR | Jax (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2015–2016 | Mickey Mouse | Scrooge McDuck (voice) | "Goofy's First Love" "No" |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Curse of Monkey Island | Haggis McMutton |
| 2008 | Disney Think Fast | Scrooge McDuck |
| 2010 | Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep | |
| 2013 | DuckTales: Scrooge's Loot | |
| 2013 | DuckTales: Remastered |
References
- ^ a b c d Barnes, Mike; Byrnes, Duane (May 20, 2016). "Alan Young, Two-Legged Star of 'Mister Ed,' Dies at 96". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ Shapiro, T. Rees (May 20, 2016). "Alan Young, Actor Who Played Willllburrrrr on 'Mister Ed,' Dies at 96". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ Elbur, Lynn (May 20, 2016). "Alan Young, Star of 1960s sitcom 'Mr. Ed,' Dies at 96". Associated Press. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 368. ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
- ^ Dunham, Will (May 20, 2016). "Actor Alan Young, Human Star of Horse Sitcom 'Mister Ed,' Dies at 96". Reuters. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio John Dunning; Oxford University Press, pp. 20–21[ISBN missing]
- ^ Thomas, Bob (June 10, 1959). "Comic Alan Young Critical of TV". The Milwaukee Sentinel.
- ^ . Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ^ There's No Business Like Show Business...Was Alan Young; BearManor Media, Jul 5, 2006, multiple mentions
- ^ "Alan Young In Mister Ed". The Gettysburg Times. March 18, 1961.
- ^ TV Guide 1974 page 36 "Well, he's come back to Hollywood after spending the past six years as a Christian Science lecturer in Boston and other parts of the country. "I set up a film and broadcasting department for the mother church in Boston," Young said"
- ^ "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981, Animated Series) Voice Cast". Voice Chasers.
- ^ Sylvie Drake (September 16, 1991). "Stage: 'Show Boat' Afloat Without Its Star".
- ^ Alan Young's voiceography. Behind the Voice Actors.com – check mark indicates BTVA has verified the entries using screenshots of credits and other confirmed sources.
- ^ a b T. Rees Shapiro (May 20, 2016). "Alan Young, actor who played Willllburrrrr on 'Mister Ed,' dies at 96". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ . The New York Times. Reuters. May 20, 2016. Archived from the original on May 21, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ Adams, Cindy (October 15, 2008). "Old Horse Tale Full of Sadness". New York Post. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
- ^ . AM New York. Reuters. May 20, 2016. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ Young, Alan; Burt, Bill (1995). Mister Ed and Me (1st ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-11852-X. OCLC 31708835.
- ^ Critchlow, Donald T. (2013). When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521199186 – via Google Books.
- ^ "An Interview with Alan Young". December 4, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Where the Stars Are Buried - Index (T-Z)
- ^ "Radio's Golden Age". Nostalgia Digest. 40 (1): 40–41. Winter 2014.
External links
- Alan Young at IMDb
- Alan Young at the Internet Broadway Database
- Alan Young at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television