Monday, June 6, 2016

Alan Young 1919-2016




Forgive me for the lateness of this post as I was away when the news broke. I did not want to skip this as 2016 has brought a number of legends that have passed away. This one affected me more than the rest which may confuse most of you that know my age. Only being thirty eight years old I completely missed Mister Ed by over a decade but luckily discovered it later.


Even though I am relatively young, thanks to Nick at Night back in the 80's, a tv in my room, and parents who went to bed early, I was introduced to a variety of older black and white television shows. Anything from The Donna Reed Show to Patty Duke to Dobie Gillis I loved them all. But  one show caught my young little mind and would make me laugh more than any of them. Mister Ed is obvious as something that a child would like due to the fact of two things. A talking horse and that theme song. Those are two things that hooked me then I discovered Alan Young who brilliantly portrayed Wilbur. The human of the show who commonly had conversations with a horse and it might be odd to say but the chemistry between the two was magic. A few years ago on ME TV I rediscovered my love for the show when they aired it in the mornings which happened to be right before I went to work at the time.

Another role that hooked me as an Alan Young fan was the voice of Scrooge McDuck from as early as 1983 until this year. Ducktales was a big part of my childhood as part of the Disney Afternoon and his voice was absolutely perfect for the role. Mickey's Christmas Carol is still to this day one of my favorite versions of the story. Uncle Scrooge plays such a crucial role in that movie and its absolutely perfect. I can't imagine someone else doing the voice to the money obsessed duck. It's amazing that he voiced this character practically up until his death at the age of 96.

The man was known for many other roles but these are the ones that are most fond to me. Both roles still put a smile on my face when I see him next to the horse or hear that greedy yet lovable duck.

Thank you Alan Young for the memories that you gave all of us. You will be missed greatly.


-R.T. 

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