Alan Young

Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British–American actor, voice actor, comedian and radio and television host/personality whom TV Guide called "the Charlie Chaplin of television". He was best known for his role as gentle Wilbur Post in the television comedy series, Mister Ed (1961–1966). Young was also the voice of Disney's Scrooge McDuck for over thirty years, first in the Academy Award-nominated short film Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and in various other films, TV series and video games until his death. During the 1940s and 1950s, he 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.
== 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. 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. 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.
== 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. 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.
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 Palfilms, Tom Thumb (1958) and The Time Machine (1960). He appeared in the NBC espionage drama Five Fingers ("Thin Ice", 1959), starring David Hedison.
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] 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.
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 Heartsseries, 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 1988-89. 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.
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. 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.
== Personal life and death ==
Young was married three times.[15] He and Mary Anne Grimes were married from 1941 to 1947 and had two children. He married Virginia McCurdy in 1948, and they had two children. They divorced in 1995, with Young marrying Mary Chipman the following year, but Young and Chipman then divorced in 1997.
Young was a Republican and supporter of Ronald Reagan.
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.
== 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"[18]
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 	English dub
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 New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show 	Gaggy Rogers (voice) 	"Wedding Bell Boos!"
1983 	Saturday Supercade 	additional voices 	13 episodes[19]
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 (voice) 	Lead Role
100 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"
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 	"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	Scrooge McDuck
2013	DuckTales: Scrooge's Loot 	Scrooge McDuck
2013	DuckTales: Remastered 	Scrooge McDuck
Category:Non-Fanon
Category:1910s births
Category:1919 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from North Fields
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male voice actors
Category:Disney people