Wayne Allwine

Wayne Anthony Allwine (February 7, 1947 – May 18, 2009)[1] was an American voice actor, sound editor and Foley artist. He was best remembered as the third official voice of Mickey Mouse in English (following Walt Disney and Jimmy MacDonald) and the first official casting following the establishment of Disney Character Voices International in 1988.[2][3] To date, he holds the record for the longest-running voice actor to play Mickey Mouse, having performed the role for 32 years. He was notably married to Russi Taylor, who voiced Minnie Mouse.[2][3]
== Early life[edit] ==
Allwine was born in Glendale, California, on February 7, 1947.[2] He is a graduate of John Burroughs High School, where he was particularly active in the school's musical theater department.[2] His father was a barbershop quartet singer.[2]
While in high school, he formed his own acoustic music group, The International Singers, which performed in clubs and colleges throughout the state.[2] After graduating, he briefly toured with the instrumental rock band Davie Allan & the Arrows. In addition to playing rhythm guitar, he can also be heard on harmonica and sax mouthpiece on the 1968 track "Cycle-Delic".[4] He later became an accomplished Dixieland jazz drummer, occasionally sitting in with Firehouse Five Plus Two alumni George Probert's Monrovia Old Style Jazz Band.[5]
== Career[edit] ==
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Allwine's career with Disney began in 1966, when at age 19, he took a job in the mailing room at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. After a brief stint in the Wardrobe department, he was offered a position in Audio Post Production apprenticing under the studio's original head of sound effects, Jimmy MacDonald.[2]
After working in the sound effects department for seven years, Allwine got a call from Disney that an open audition was taking place for the role of Mickey Mouse in late 1976. After a previous actor failed to show up,[2] Allwine tried out for the role, and ultimately won the part. He became the third official voice of Mickey Mouse in 1977.[3][2] He replaced his sound effects mentor, Jimmy MacDonald, who in 1947 had taken over from Walt Disney himself. Disney had performed the role since 1928 as well as supplying Mickey's voice for animated portions of the original The Mickey Mouse Club television show (ABC-TV, 1955–1959).[3]
Television audiences first heard Allwine's Mickey during the animated lead-ins for The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1977.[2] He made his theatrical debut in the 1982 re-release of the film Fantasia, for which he re-dubbed Mickey's voice in the famous handshake scene with conductor Leopold Stokowski. His breakout role came the following year, in the 1983 featurette Mickey's Christmas Carol.[2] In addition to voicing the title character, he also voiced a Santa Claus on the street appealing for charity donations at the start of the movie, Moley (who appears with Ratty) "collecting for the poor", and one of the two weasel undertakers in the Christmas future scene.
He also lent his vocal talent to feature films such as The Black Cauldron (1985), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), The Prince and the Pauper (1990), Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), the TV series Mickey Mouse Works (1999–2000), House of Mouse (2001–2003) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2012).[2] He provided Mickey's voice in the popular Kingdom Hearts series of video games prior to Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, which was done in collaboration with Japanese video game company Square Enix. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which was the last game that used his voice (mainly with Mickey as a playable character in Mission Mode), would leave a message in his memory as the game was released in North America several months after his death.
In addition to his voice work, Allwine had a dual career as a sound effects editor and Foley artist for Walt Disney Productions, receiving Sound Department recognition in films like Splash (1984), The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and Three Men and a Baby (1987). He also received sound editor credit in the movies Innerspace (1987), Alien Nation (1988) and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) for other studios. In 1986, he was awarded a group Primetime Emmy Award for his sound editing contributions to a World War II-focused episode of the Steven Spielberg anthology television series Amazing Stories (1985). The same project earned him his first Golden Reel Award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors society. He received his second for sound editing on The Great Mouse Detective.
== Personal life[edit] ==
In 1991, he married Russi Taylor, who voiced Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and they were named Disney Legends in 2008, they remained married up until his death in 2009.[3][2][6] Allwine fathered three biological children and one adopted child from previous marriages.[2][3]
== Death[edit] ==
Allwine died of hypertensive crisis caused by complications from acute diabetes at the age of 62 on May 18, 2009, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. His prospective understudy, Bret Iwan, assumed the role of voicing Mickey Mouse.[2][7][8] Allwine is now interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[2]
== Filmography[edit] ==
=== Film[edit] ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1982	Fantasia (1982 reissue) 	Mickey Mouse 	Handshake scene with Leopold Stokowski
1983	Mickey's Christmas Carol 	Mickey Mouse/Weasel Gravedigger/Beggar Dog/Moley	Short film
1985	The Black Cauldron 	Henchman 	[9]
1986	The Great Mouse Detective 	Thug Guard #2 	[9]
1988	Who Framed Roger Rabbit 	Mickey Mouse 	[9]
1990	The Prince and the Pauper[9] 	Mickey Mouse/Prince Mouse 	Short film
1995	A Goofy Movie 	Mickey Mouse 	Cameo[9]
1995	Runaway Brain 	Mickey Mouse 	Short film
1998	The Spirit of Mickey 	Mickey Mouse 	Direct-to-video
1999	Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas 	Mickey Mouse 	Direct-to-video[9]
1999	Fantasia 2000 	Mickey Mouse 	Segment: "Pomp and Circumstance"
2001	Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse	Mickey Mouse 	Direct-to-video
2002	Mickey's House of Villains 	Mickey Mouse 	Direct-to-video
2004	Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers 	Mickey Mouse 	Direct-to-video[9]
2004	Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas 	Mickey Mouse 	Direct-to-video[9]
2007	Mickey's Great Clubhouse Hunt 	Mickey Mouse 	Special
2009	Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Choo Choo Express 	Mickey Mouse 	Special; posthumous release, "In Loving Memory of" dedication
2009	Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Adventures in Wonderland 	Mickey Mouse 	Special; posthumous release
2010	Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Road Rally 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film; posthumous release
2011	Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Space Adventure 	Mickey Mouse 	Final television film; posthumous release
=== Television[edit] ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1977–1979	The New Mickey Mouse Club 	Mickey Mouse 	11 episodes
1983 	Mousercise 	Mickey Mouse 	
1985 	Ludwig's Think Tank 	Ludwig Von Drake	Television special[9]
1987 	D-TV Doggone Valentine 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film
1987 	D-TV Monster Hits 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film
1988 	Totally Minnie 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film
1988 	Mickey's 60th Birthday 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film
1988 	Here's to you, Mickey Mouse 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film
1989 	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color 	Mickey Mouse 	2 episodes
1990 	The Muppets at Walt Disney World 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film
1990 	Disney Sing-Along Songs: Disneyland Fun	Mickey Mouse 	Direct-to-video
1992 	Mickey's Nutcracker 	Mickey Mouse 	Uncredited
Television special
1993 	Bonkers 	Mickey Mouse 	Episode: "I Oughta Be in Toons"
1994–1995	Mickey's Fun Songs series 	Mickey Mouse 	
1995 	Mickey: Reelin' Through the Years 	Mickey Mouse 	Television film
1999–2000	Mickey Mouse Works 	Mickey Mouse 	30 episodes
2001–2003	House of Mouse 	Mickey Mouse 	52 episodes
2006–2012	Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 	Mickey Mouse 	99 episodes, final television series
=== Video games[edit] ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1998	My Disney Kitchen 	Mickey Mouse	
2000	Mickey's Speedway USA 	Mickey Mouse	
2000	Mickey Mouse Preschool 	Mickey Mouse	[9]
2000	Mickey Mouse Kindergarten 	Mickey Mouse	[9]
2000	Mickey Mouse Toddler 	Mickey Mouse	[9]
2001	Disney Learning: Phonics Quest 	Mickey Mouse	
2002	Disney Learning Adventure: Search for the Secret Keys	Mickey Mouse	
2002	Kingdom Hearts 	Mickey Mouse	
2002	Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse 	Mickey Mouse	[9]
2002	Disney Golf 	Mickey Mouse	
2002	Disney Sports Soccer 	Mickey Mouse	
2002	Disney Sports Skateboarding 	Mickey Mouse	
2002	Disney Sports Football 	Mickey Mouse	
2002	Disney Sports Basketball 	Mickey Mouse	
2003	Disney's Party 	Mickey Mouse	
2003	Disney's Hide and Sneak 	Mickey Mouse	
2003	Toontown Online 	Mickey Mouse	
2006	Kingdom Hearts II 	Mickey Mouse	
2008	Disney Think Fast 	Mickey Mouse	
2008	Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories 	Mickey Mouse	
2009	Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days 	Mickey Mouse	
2013	Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix 	Mickey Mouse	(Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and RE:CoM)
2014	Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix 	Mickey Mouse	(Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix)
2017	Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix 	Mickey Mouse	(Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, RE:CoM and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix)
Category:1947 births
Category:2009 deaths
Category:Male actors from Glendale, California
Category:American male video game actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:American tenors
Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Category:Disney Legends
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles
Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:Deaths from diabetes in California
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors