Chuck Keehne

Charles "Chuck" Keehne was an American costume designer, who worked on film and television productions for Disney.
==Early years==
Keehne was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the middle child of four boys and one girl belonging to William, a railroad telegrapher, and Mae Keehne and the family moved around the state because of his father's job. After graduating from high school, Chuck moved to California, where he first found work building movie sets before being hired by Western Costume Co. as a costumer and becoming an expert on historical dress and costuming. In early 1940's, Keehne began freelancing for films The Fighting 69th, Knute Rockne, All American, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Captain from Castile, and Fort Apache. His career was interrupted by a hitch in the Army Air Corps during World War II, where he served as a combat cameraman in the Pacific Theatre. After his discharge in 1946, he returned to the film business.
==Career with Disney==
In 1955, he was made Chief of the Wardrobe Department at Disney. Up to that time, Walt Disney didn't have a Wardrobe Department. Most of Walt's early live-action attempts included usually one-and-done costumers, such as Mary Wills (Song of the South), Sheila Graham (Treasure Island), Michael Whittaker and Yvonne Caffin (The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men), Phyllis Dalton (Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue), Fred Valles (The Sword and the Rose), and Norman Martien (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier). With the rise of his live-action film and television ventures, the wardrobe department was established with Keehne running the operation himself with assistants Ted Towey and Gertie Casey.
His first assignment was to create costumes for the studio's new children's show, Mickey Mouse Club, where he came up with the final design for the famous "ears" on the Mouseketeers' caps, which transcended beyond the show as popular Disney merchandise. He soon began to work on other television productions, such as the Mouse Club serials, Zorro and the Disneyland anthology series. Eventually, he found and his department worked on films, such as Westward Ho, the Wagons!, Old Yeller, The Parent Trap, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Freaky Friday, and Pete's Dragon.
Keehne stayed as head of Disney's Wardrobe Department until his retirement in 1979 with more than 70 feature films under his belt. He died in Los Angeles, California on February 24, 2001.
==Filmography==
Year 	Film 	Position
1955–1959	Mickey Mouse Club 	WardrobeCostume Designer
1956 	Westward Ho, the Wagons! 	Costume Designer
1956 	The Great Locomotive Chase 	Wardrobe
1957 	Johnny Tremain 	Costume Designer
1957–1980	The Magical World of Disney 	CostumerCostume Designer
1957–1959	Zorro 	Costume Designer
1957 	Old Yeller 	Costume Designer
1958 	The Light in the Forest 	Costume Designer
1958 	Tonka 	Costumer
1959 	The Shaggy Dog 	Costumer
1959 	Darby O'Gill and the Little People 	Costumer
1959 	The Big Fisherman 	Costumer
1960 	Toby Tyler 	Costume Designer
1960 	Ten Who Dared 	Costume Designer
1960 	Pollyanna 	Costumer
1961 	The Absent-Minded Professor 	Costumer
1961 	The Parent Trap 	Costumer
1961 	Babes in Toyland 	Costumer
1962 	Moon Pilot 	Costumer
1962 	Bon Voyage 	Costumer
1962 	The Mooncussers 	Costumer
1962 	Son of Flubber 	Costumes
1962 	Big Red 	Costume Designer
1963 	Savage Sam 	Costume Designer
1963 	Summer Magic 	Costumes
1963 	The Incredible Journey 	Costume Designer
1964 	The Misadventures of Merlin Jones 	Costume Designer
1964 	For the Love of Willadean 	Costume Designer
1964 	A Tiger Walks 	Costume Designer
1964 	Mary Poppins 	Costumer
1965 	The Monkey's Uncle 	Costume Designer
1965 	Those Calloways 	Costumes
1965 	That's Darn Cat! 	Costumer
1966 	Lt. Robin Crusoe USN 	Costumer
1966 	Follow Me, Boys! 	Costumer
1966 	The Ugly Dachshund 	Costume Designer
1966 	The Boston Tea Party 	Costume Designer
1967 	Monkeys, Go Home! 	Costumer
1967 	The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin 	Costumer
1967 	Mosby's Marauders 	Costumer
1967 	The Happiest Millionaire 	Costumer
1967 	The Gnome-Mobile 	Costumer
1968 	Blackbeard's Ghost 	Costumer
1968 	The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band	Costumer
1968 	The Young Loner 	Costume Designer
1968 	Never a Dull Moment 	Costumer
1968 	The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit 	Costumer
1969 	The Love Bug 	Costumer
1969 	Smith! 	Costumer
1969 	Rascal 	Costumer
1969 	Hang Your Hat on the Wind 	Costumer
1969 	Secrets of the Pirates' Inn 	Costumer
1969 	The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes 	Costumer
1970 	Smoke 	Costumer
1970 	The Boatniks 	Costumer
1970 	The Wild Country 	Costumer
1971 	The Barefoot Executive 	Costumes
1971 	Scandalous John 	Costumes
1971 	Bedknobs and Broomsticks 	Costumes
1971 	Menace on the Mountain 	Costume Designer
1971 	The Million Dollar Duck 	Costume Designer
1971 	The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove 	Costume Designer
1972 	Justin Morgan Had a Horse 	Costumes
1972 	Michael O'Hara the Fourth 	Costumes
1972 	Now You See Him, Now You Don't 	Costumes
1972 	Snowball Express 	Costumes
1972 	The Biscuit Eater 	Costume Designer
1972 	Napoleon and Samantha 	Costume Designer
1972 	Run, Cougar, Run 	Costume Designer
1972-1973	The Mouse Factory 	Costumer
1973 	The Mystery in Dracula's Castle 	Costume Designer
1973 	Charley and the Angel 	Costumer
1973 	Superdad 	Costumer
1973 	The World's Greatest Athlete 	Costume Designer
1973 	One Little Indian 	Costume Designer
1974 	The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton 	Costume Designer
1974 	Hog Wild 	Costume Designer
1974 	The Castaway Cowboy 	Costume Designer
1974 	Herbie Rides Again 	Costumes
1974 	The Bears and I 	Costumer
1974 	The Island at the Top of the World 	Costumes
1974 	Return of the Big Cat 	Costume Designer
1975 	The Strongest Man in the World 	Costumes
1975 	Escape to Witch Mountain 	Costumes
1975 	The Apple Dumpling Gang 	Costumes
1975 	The Boy Who Talked to Badgers 	Costumes
1975 	The Sky's the Limit 	Costume Designer
1976 	The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper 	Costume Designer
1976 	No Deposit, No Return 	Costumes
1976 	Treasure of Matecumbe 	Costumes
1976 	Gus 	Costumes
1976 	The Shaggy D.A. 	Costumes
1976 	Freaky Friday 	Costumes
1977 	Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo 	Costumes
1977 	Pete's Dragon 	Costumes
1977-1978	The New Mickey Mouse Club 	Costumer
1978 	Trail of Danger 	Costumes
1978 	The Cat from Outer Space 	Costumes
1978 	Hot Lead and Cold Feet 	Costumes
1979 	The North Avenue Irregulars 	Costumes
1979 	The Black Hole 	Costume Supervisor
1979 	The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again 	Costume Designer
==Gallery==
Kevin Corcoran and Chuck Keehne.jpg|Keehne in his workshop with Kevin Corcoran.
Chuck Keehne at work.jpg|Walt Disney watches as Keehne and Ted Towey check an actor's costume for a Disneyland serial.
==Trivia==
*According to Keehne's daughter, Bill Walsh, Hal Adelquist, and Roy Williams all worked together with her father on the mouse ears. The early versions were too large and looked ungainly, nor would they stay on when the kids danced or moved quickly. Eventually the team devised small hand-crafted caps with wire-reinforced felt ears and rubber-bands that fit under the chin to hold them on, each one tailored to an individual Mouseketeer. They were time-consuming to make, and each cap contained $20 worth of high-quality felt, and cost an additional $5 to make. Mouseketeers were fined $50 for every cap that went missing.
==External links==
*
*MMC Crew: Chuck Keehne
*Chuck and Marcelle's 50th Wedding Anniversary
*The Art of Disney Costuming
Category:Males
Category:1910s births
Category:2000s deaths
Category:Deceased
Category:People from Missouri
Category:American people
Category:Costume designers
Category:Mickey Mouse Club
Category:Annette
Category:Westward Ho, the Wagons!
Category:The Great Locomotive Chase
Category:Johnny Tremain
Category:Zorro
Category:Old Yeller
Category:The Light in the Forest
Category:Tonka
Category:The Shaggy Dog
Category:Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Category:Toby Tyler
Category:Ten Who Dared
Category:Pollyanna
Category:The Absent-Minded Professor
Category:The Parent Trap
Category:Babes in Toyland
Category:Moon Pilot
Category:Summer Magic
Category:The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
Category:A Tiger Walks
Category:Mary Poppins
Category:That Darn Cat!
Category:The Ugly Dachshund
Category:The Happiest Millionaire
Category:The Gnome-Mobile
Category:Blackbeard's Ghost
Category:The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
Category:Never a Dull Moment
Category:The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
Category:Herbie
Category:Rascal
Category:The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Category:The Boatniks
Category:The Wild Country
Category:The Barefoot Executive
Category:Scandalous John
Category:Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Category:The Million Dollar Duck
Category:Napoleon and Samantha
Category:Charley and the Angel
Category:Superdad
Category:The World's Greatest Athlete
Category:One Little Indian
Category:Witch Mountain
Category:The Apple Dumpling Gang
Category:No Deposit, No Return
Category:Treasure of Matecumbe
Category:Gus
Category:Freaky Friday
Category:Pete's Dragon
Category:The Cat from Outer Space
Category:Hot Lead and Cold Feet
Category:The Black Hole
Category:Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color