View the profiles of people named Bobby Driscoll. Voice of 1953 Disney's Peter Pan. An audition got him a minor acting role at the age of 5. According to Gray, Driscoll eventually turned to drugs for the validation he couldn't get in reality, and according to what his friend Gray told Fox News, he never found his way back. After a final appearance in Piero Heliczer's Underground short Dirt (1965) in 1965 and a short art-period at Andy Warhol's so-called Factory, he disappeared into the underground, thoroughly dispirited, funds depleted. In connection with the re-release of Song of the South in 1971, reporters researching the whereabouts of the film's star first reported his death. Driscoll and Luana Patten were the first two actors Walt Disney placed under contract. The young actors days of taking on small movie roles were officially overbut this new life would eventually lead him down a dark and dangerous path. The sentencing hearing for former City Councilmember Bobby Henon is underway in the Philadelphia federal courthouse. As a result, the city buried Driscolls unclaimed body in an unmarked paupers grave on Hart Island. [13], So Dear to My Heart and The Window earned Driscoll a special Juvenile Academy Award in March 1950 as the outstanding juvenile actor of 1949. Unfortunately, Driscoll could not escape the shadows of his past and ended up dropping out of both prestigious universities. After making his screen debut, he got a role in a 20th Century Fox war film, The Fighting Sullivans (1944), wherein he essayed the youngest of 5 brothers, Al Sullivan. In Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944), he played the boy who could blow his whistle while standing on head, and in the same year he played young brother of Richard Arlen in The Big Bonanza., In 1946, Driscoll portrayed Percy Maxim in So Goes My Love. The other movies in which he played small parts, included Identify Unknown, From This Day Forward, O.S.S., and Miss Susie Slagles., Driscoll was one of the first two actors to sign contract with Walt Disney. The first live-action/animated film of Disney, Song of the South (1946), had Driscoll as its lead actor. Both were originally aired on November 5, 1960. Instead, they sent Driscoll to West Los Angeles University High School. This revelation comes from a friend of the late voice actor, Billy Gray. After Disney turned its back on him, the budding actor was left to fend for himself, and it led to his early and tragic end. Discovered by chance at the age of five-and-a-half in a barber shop in Altadena, CA. Driscoll's second long-run Disney contract allowed him to be lent to independent Horizon Pictures for the double role of Danny/Josh Reed in When I Grow Up (1951). Films: Song of the South, Treasure Island They were allowed to remain for six weeks to prepare an appeal, and director Byron Haskin hastily shot all of Driscoll's close-ups,[16] using his British stand-in to film missing location scenes after his parents and he had returned to California. The courtroom is packed with Henon's family and supporters, with more . Bobby Driscoll: his birthday, what he did before fame, his family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. This resulted in a fingerprint match at the New York City Police Department, which located his burial on Hart Island. News of Driscolls end finally went public, four years after tragedy took the young mans life. [11], Driscoll was lent to RKO[12] to star in The Window, based on Cornell Woolrich's short story "The Boy Cried Murder". He had previously been encouraged to do so by artist and poet Wallace Berman, whom he had befriended after joining Berman's art circle (now also known as Semina Culture) in Los Angeles in 1956. On March 30, 1968, two playing children found his dead body in an abandoned East Village tenement. During the middle of production, authorities discovered that Driscoll did not have a valid British work permit. Connect to the World Family Tree to find out, Photo by NBC Television Network. Driscoll never forgot about his dream of being an actor, though. The stigma that his prison sentence left on him made it impossible for Driscoll to find acting jobs, leaving the young man bitterBut not completely hopeless. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Des Moines,[1] where they stayed until early 1943. He briefly worked as a carpenter and cared for the young children he had with his ex-wife. Driscoll and Rush eloped in Mexico, although both sets of parents objected to their union. The award made Driscoll even more valuable in the eyes of Uncle Walt, and it led to Driscolls next big Disney hit. The authorities showed photos of his body to people living in the neighborhood, but no one had any idea who he was. Driscolls dad was nearing the end of his life, and Driscolls mom wanted to reunite father and son one last time. Driscoll still had Robin Hood to look forward to, at leastRight? Website about Disney child actor Bobby Driscoll. He successfully continued acting on TV until 1957 and even managed to get two final screen roles; in The Scarlet Coat (1955) and opposite of Mark Damon and Connie Stevens in The Party Crashers (1958). The cause of the death was determined as heart failure due to advanced hardening of arteries, resulted from long-term drug abuse. The first Disney film, Song of the South, was re-released in 1971-1972. The real tragedy of Bobby Driscoll was the fact that no one identified his body. In his biography on Disney, Marc Elliot described Driscoll as the producer's favorite "live action" child star: "Walt often referred to Driscoll with great affection as the living embodiment of his own youth". It's also the final resting place of Bobby Driscoll, who became a household name at the age of 9 with a starring role in Disney's controversial Song of the South. He was discovered in a barbershop when he was 5 years old, and cast in films including Song of the South and So . Nothing about his early childhood indicated a future career with Walt Disney. BobbyDriscoll.com. Well, not exactly. Bobby is a high school graduate. At the end of his six weeks, the authorities booted Driscoll and his family out of the country, and Disney filmed the rest of Driscolls scenes with a stand-in. An examination revealed that Driscoll passed from heart failure directly related to his drug usage. ), Media related to Bobby Driscoll at Wikimedia Commons. He served as the animation model and provided the voice for the title role in Peter Pan (1953). Ironically, critics of the film thought that Driscolls portrayal was a huge step up, as the original Peter Pan book portrayed the character as a complete sociopath. Although Driscoll did much to bolster Disney during a time of crisis, he is still, to this day, not a part of Disney Legends, the Disney equivalent of a Hall of Fame. This put Driscoll and the entire production in a sticky situation. [25] During a project meeting following the completion of Peter Pan, though, Disney stated that he now saw Driscoll as best suited for roles as a young bully rather than a likeable protagonist. Driscoll lucked out this time, but his luck ran out the following year. When it was released in May 1949, it became a surprise hit. No clan is left untouched, and even families that seem happy and normal on. At the same time, Driscoll was working on another projectand it defined his entire career. Academy Award-winning actor of Disney films in the 40s and early 50s who died from a drug overdose. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. As Driscolls personality deteriorated, his marriage suffered. He appeared in a variety of anthology and drama series, such as Dragnet (a crime drama) and Medic (the OG medical drama). Born In: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States, Spouse/Ex-: Marilyn Jean Rush (m. 1956 - div. Reporters looking into Driscoll discovered the ghastly tale of Driscolls career and his end. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. "A Tribute to Shirley Booth, paragraph: Dean Martin on Shirley Booth Dean Martin recalling an encounter with Driscoll at a party in the mid-1950s, literally terming him "Pupils In Hollywood School Drew More pay Than Their Teachers", "Strangest Grammar School In Nation Found In Hollywood", "Bobby's graduation at Hollywood Professional School", "The Long Road Back Bobby Driscoll, a Film Star at 6, an Addict at 17, Sent to Chino", "Bobby Driscoll, Friend Denies Narcotic Charge This Is No Act", "Actor Bobby Driscoll, 19, Seized On Dope Charge", "Actor Driscoll reveals To Plan To Rewed Girl, 19", "Actor Driscoll Needs Job As Clerk To Finance Marriage", "The Long Road back Bobby Driscoll, a Film Star At 6, An Addict At 17, Sent To Chino", "A personal Letter to his girl friend of then, which he closes with "Bob". March 1, 2021 - 7:01AM Former Disney child star Bobby Driscoll rose to fame at age 9 as "the first human being signed for Disney Productions." He won a Juvenile Oscar at age 12 and went on to voice the title role in 1953's animated film Peter Pan at age 16, but met a tragic end. Bobby Driscoll was Disney's first fallen child star whose rejection and eventual self-sabotage led him to a bizarre and unfortunate early death. Although Driscoll had a troubled life, he attempted to push forward. In the film, Driscoll portrayed Tommy Woodry, a boy that witnesses a murder, only to have no one believe him due to his reputation as a liar. He and his co-star Luana Patten became child-stars and the media dubbed them as Walt Disneys Sweetheart Team.. At the time, Disneys finances were in shambles thanks to WWII and desperately needed the film to do well. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. Moves from Des Monies, Iowa to Los Angeles. When Driscoll left Chino in early 1962, he was unable to find acting work. Unfortunately for Driscoll, Walts affection seemed to run dry after the filming of Peter Pan, and it led to the young actors early decline. Fatal addiction to drugs destroyed Bobby Driscoll's brilliant career as a child star and left him for dead in an abandoned New York City tenement at age 31. Bobby Driscoll had a great start in life, but somewhere along the line, he went off track, and according to his friend Billy Gray, it was a choice he made. Driscoll's salary at Disney had been raised to $1,750 per week[26] and compared to his salary, Driscoll had little work from 1952 on. This was already sad enough, but it wasnt even the most tragic fact about his end. Later, he worked mainly in TV series and radio shows. Perhaps Driscoll hoped that Rush would change him for the better, but what actually happened was far, far worse. The body remained unidentified and unclaimed, so it was buried in an unmarked grave in New York Citys Potters Field, on Hart Island. 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