The live-action/animated musical eventually became an embarrassing project for Disney because of its offensive stereotypes and less than a candid depiction of slavery; however, it meant more for Driscoll. After three years of taking on minor acting roles, Driscoll got the chance of a lifetime when he caught the eye of the one and only Walt Disney. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA). She reached out to Disney for help, which eventually led her to the NYPD. Sadly, the story of Bobby Driscoll does not end with happily ever after., Adorable Facts About Shirley Temple, Hollywoods Biggest Child Star, Wild Facts About Howard Hughes, The Most Eccentric Man In Hollywood, Bloody Facts About Ivan the Terrible, The Mad Tsar Of Russia, More People Need To Know About Nell Gwyn, Englands X-Rated Cinderella, These Eerie Supernatural Experiences Sent A Chill Down Our Spines, Plot Twist: These Surprise Endings Made Our Jaws Hit The Floor. Things came to a head when Driscoll hit puberty. [58][59], Late in 1969, Driscoll's mother sought the help of officials at Disney studios to contact him, for a hoped-for reunion with his father, who was nearing death. An audition got him a minor acting role at the age of 5. He was born in a pretty normal household, but he was nothing but regular; he had something in it. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period, such as Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1949), The Window (1949), and Treasure Island (1950). 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. Driscoll's parents were encouraged to help their son become a child performer in films. They charged him, but once again, the charges didnt stick. [42] They had two daughters and one son, but the relationship did not last. 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. At the same time, Driscoll was working on another projectand it defined his entire career. Driscoll encountered increasing indifference from the other Hollywood studios. It took even longer for news of Driscolls passing to reach the public. Bobby Driscoll. Driscoll was born on March 3, 1937, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Isabelle (ne Kratz), a former school teacher, and Cletus, an insulation salesman. View the profiles of people named Bobby Driscoll. In New York City, Driscoll attempted to revive his career through Broadway. Not only did it give Driscoll another chance at a starring role, but Disney planned on filming in the United Kingdom. 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. My mom never told me how her best friend died. In 1944, 20th Century Fox offered Driscoll a role in their WWII drama, The Fighting Sullivans. They managed to identify Driscoll through his fingerprints, which led them to Hart Island. Driscoll and Patten once again worked together in Disneys first all-live-action film, So Dear to My Heart. In RKO Studios (Disneys co-producers) 1948 musical comedy, If You Knew Susie, he played the part of Eddie Cantors son. It was clear that Driscolls drug addiction was destroying his life, and in 1961, everything came to a head when the authorities finally sentenced him as a drug addict. His grades suffered for it, but he graduated. Driscoll found it difficult to get work, because all other studios considered him a Disney kid. From 1953, he mostly worked on TV in Front Row Center, Climax!, Navy Log, Fireside Theater, Ford Theater, Dragnet, Studio One, Men of Annapolis, Medic, among others. Bobby was the son of a salesman and a school teacher, but his life would take the first twist when his father got sick after many years of handling asbestos in his job. [14][15], Driscoll was cast to play Jim Hawkins in Walt Disney's version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1950), with British actor Robert Newton as Long John Silver, the studio's first all-live-action picture. 'Treasure Island became a worldwide hit and many new projects were planned with Driscoll as the lead, but somehow they didnt work-out. Billy Gray, who also got an early start in showbiz, said that "he was devastated and didn't take the news well.". Driscoll's last major success, Peter Pan (1953), was produced largely between May 1949 and mid-1951. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. Beginning in 1953 and for most of the next three years, the bulk of his work was on television, on such anthology and drama series as Fireside Theater, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Front Row Center, Navy Log, TV Reader's Digest, Climax!, Ford Theatre, Studio One, Dragnet, Medic, and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. He managed to land two television parts in 1957, and even got a film role in The Party Crashers in 1958, but it was too little, too late. The two had two daughters and one son. The young boy had it all, but unfortunately, his snafu with the British authorities had a bigger impact on his career than Driscoll couldve imagined. In an incredibly sad twist, Driscolls work with Disney made it incredibly difficult for the young actor to find roles. The film is now available . First famous now infamous. According to him, his personality took a turn for the worse during his marriage, and his dwindling career soon followed suit. All Rights Reserved. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Des Moines,[1] where they stayed until early 1943. By all accounts, he was your average little kid living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/bobby-driscoll-43522.php, 20th Century Film & Theater Personalities, 20th Century American Film & Theater Personalities. There's something about the family structure that encourages secrets. He took on the double role of Danny/Josh Reed in When I Grow Upand made a brief guest appearance in Disneys first televised Christmas show, One Hour in Wonderland. The striking force and terrifying impact of this RKO melodrama is chiefly due to Bobby's brilliant acting, for the whole effect would have been lost were there any suspicion of doubt about the credibility of this pivotal character. "[41] In 1957, he had only two television parts, as the loyal brother of a criminal immigrant in M Squad, a long-running crime series starring Lee Marvin, and as an officer aboard the submarine S-38 in an episode of the World War II docudrama series The Silent Service. He portrayed a young version of Al Sullivan, one of five close-knit brothers growing up in Iowa during the dark days of the Great Depression. By early 1962, Driscolls prison sentence ended, but it utterly destroyed his chances of becoming an actor ever again. After his release, he focused his attention on the avant-garde art scene. [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's mother, Isabelle, did not learn of her son's death until about two years later after she placed advertisements about his disappearance in New York newspapers. On March 30, 1968, two playing children found his dead body in an abandoned East Village tenement. Bobby Driscoll was born in Cedar Rapids. It was planned as Disney's first all-live-action movie, with production beginning immediately after Song of the South,[9] but its release was delayed until late 1948 to meet the demands of Disney's co-producer and longtime distributor RKO Radio Pictures for animated content in the film. 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. From petty paybacks to insane acts of karma, these bitter people somehow found the most ingenious ways. The sentencing hearing for former City Councilmember Bobby Henon is underway in the Philadelphia federal courthouse. Other such smaller roles led to a contract from Walt Disney. As it was common practice in this business, Driscoll and Luana Patten also did promotional radio gigs (starting in late 1946 for Song of the South) and toured the country for various parades and charity events through the years. Bobby Driscoll starred in Song of the South, Melody Time, Treasure Island, and most notably was the voice and reference model for Peter Pan. Still determined to become an actor, Driscoll left his parents home at 16. [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. In fact, 40 other applicants wanted the role! The guards refused to let Driscoll enter, and informed himrather abruptly and rudelythat he was no longer under the employ of Disney Studios. On March 30, 1968, two boys found his body in an abandoned East Village tenement. Driscoll appeared in The Scarlet Coat in 1955, and then The Party Crashers (1958). Both Driscolls family and Disney received hefty fines, and they ordered Driscoll out of the country. From there, Driscoll quickly became one of Disneys biggest money-makers. The award was presented as a special miniature Oscar statuette for "the outstanding juvenile actor of 1949" for his roles in So Dear to My Heart and The Window, both released that year. The role was minor, but it was the start of many movies that capitalized on Driscoll's features, including his pert nose and freckled face. AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. In a last-ditch attempt to distance himself from his Disney days, Driscoll began using the name Robert Driscoll when looking for acting jobs. That same year, Driscoll got in trouble with the authorities once again when he hit a heckler that insulted him while he washed his girlfriends car. He was awarded Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street, in 1960. 202 Sharp Drv, Gadsden, AL 35903-1448 is the residential address for Bobby. Bobby Driscoll was born Robert Cletus Driscoll on March 3, 1937. Audiences warmly received Driscoll and his pert nose and freckled face, leading to even more film roles for the seven-year-old actor. Hughes was not a big fan of Driscoll and Hollywood kids in general. This is a business registration address for Paul Wink. Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. Born In: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States, Spouse/Ex-: Marilyn Jean Rush (m. 1956 - div. When media tried to find the films main cast, they came to know about his death from his mother. Driscoll never forgot about his dream of being an actor, though. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. We know that Angie D Parrish, Paul Wing, and three other persons also lived at this address, perhaps within a different time frame. His casting was suggested by screenwriter Michael Kanin. Driscoll and Rush eloped in Mexico, although both sets of parents objected to their union. The New York Times credited Driscoll with the film's success:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, The mounting terror of a young boy who lives in mortal fear of his life is projected with remarkable verisimilitude by 12-year-old Bobby Driscoll in "The Window," which opened on Saturday at the Victoria. In no time I was using whatever was available mostly heroin, because I had the money to pay for it. While on tour across the studio lot, five-year-old Driscoll noticed a mock-up ship and asked where the water was. The couple was later rewed in a ceremony that took place in Los Angeles in March 1957. Landing Page. -. For example, Haskin recalled in his memoirs that Disney, although interested in Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate story as a full-length cartoon, always planned to cast Driscoll as Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. On March 23, 1950, Driscoll won a Special Juvenile Academy Award as the Outstanding Juvenile Actor of 1949 for his performances in So Dear to My Heart, and The Window., In Walt Disneys all-live-action picture Treasure Island (based on Robert Louis Stevensons 1883 novel), Driscoll played Jim Hawkins.. Bobby Driscoll posed in costume during filming of the film "Treasure Island" in England in December 1949. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. Hughes dismissed Driscoll later in 1953, and he did so in a terrible manner by denying Driscoll entry into the studio. After leaving the center in 1962, he tried in vain to search for work. The agent starts working, landing Bobby Driscoll a bit role opposite Margaret O'Brien in the 1943 film Lost Angel. His unclaimed body was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in New York City's Potter's Field on Hart Island. Although the charges were dismissed, this event marked the beginning of Driscolls many future encounters with the law. In 1954, he was awarded a Milky Way Gold Star Award, chosen in a nationwide poll for his work on television and radio. View Collection. After years of working for the studio, Disney dropped Driscoll like a hot coal, forcing the young man to find work elsewhere. His role for the production was enormously important: not only did he voice the titular Peter, but he also served as the reference model for the films close-ups. Facebook gives people the power. Instead, they sent Driscoll to West Los Angeles University High School. The award Driscoll received was the Juvenile Academy Award, which is only awarded at the discretion of the Academys Board of Governors. The feature was filmed in the United Kingdom, and during production, Driscoll was found to not have a valid British work permit, so his family and Disney were fined and ordered to leave the country. Just like that, precocious little Driscoll took his first steps toward a whole new lifebut his road to stardom was not going to be an easy one. The story of this child actor, who starred in films like Song of the South and Peter Pan, is a heart-wrenching one. His last known appearances on TV were small roles in two single-season series: The Best of the Post, a syndicated anthology series adapted from stories published in The Saturday Evening Post magazine, and The Brothers Brannagan, an unsuccessful crime series starring Stephen Dunne and Mark Roberts. 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