Jimmie Dodd
Jimmie Dodd | |
|---|---|
 Dodd as a Mouseketeer onThe Mickey Mouse Club,c. 1956 | |
| Born | James Wesley Dodd March 28, 1910 Cincinnati, Ohio,U.S. |
| Died | November 10, 1964(aged 54) Honolulu, Hawaii,U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1937–1959 |
| Spouse |
Ruth Carrell (m.1940) |
James Wesley Dodd(March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964) was an American actor, singer and songwriter best known as themaster of ceremoniesfor the popular 1950sWalt Disneytelevision seriesThe Mickey Mouse Club,as well as the writer of its well-known theme song "The Mickey Mouse Club March." A different version of this march, much slower intempoand with different lyrics, became thealma materthat closed each episode.
Dodd grew up inCincinnatiwhere he was an outstanding amateur tennis player, even reaching the Round of 16 twice at his hometown tournament, now known as theCincinnati Masters.Later, a heart ailment made him ineligible to serve in combat in World War II, but he and his wife Ruth traveled extensively entertaining the troops.[1][2]
Career
[edit]
Dodd moved from Cincinnati to Florida, where he worked in radio before moving to California to become a songwriter. Of the estimated 400 songs he wrote, his best-known areAmarillo,He Was There,I Love Girls,Nashville Blues,andRosemary,though not all were published.[1]
Films
[edit]Dodd had some early film roles inThe Three Mesquiteersseries ofwesterns.Coincidentally, he performed in two unrelated series whose titles were plays on "musketeers".He made his first screen appearance in the 1940William HoldenfilmThose Were the Days!in a minor role. He was one of the standout singers in the song, "Who’s Your Yehouti" in the 1940 movieVarsity Vanities.He also appeared in many theatrical films in the 1940s and 1950s, often uncredited. He appeared withJohn Waynein the war filmsFlying Tigers(1942),Janie(1944), in which he sings a bit ofKeep Your Powder Drywith starJoyce Reynolds,and withHarry CareyinChina's Little Devils(1945), another film involving theFlying Tigers.He also played the taxi driver in the MGM filmEaster Parade(1948), starringFred AstaireandJudy Garland.Dodd had a small, but important part in theMickey RooneyhitQuicksand(1950). Two of his films were biographies of baseball players:The Jackie Robinson Story(1950), in whichJackie Robinsonplayed himself, andThe Winning Team(1952), in which future presidentRonald Reaganportrayed pitcherGrover Cleveland Alexander.He played a taxi driver again inPhffft(1954).[3]
Television other thanThe Mickey Mouse Club
[edit]In addition to his small role in an early episode ofAdventures of Supermantitled "Double Trouble,"[4]Dodd appeared as a deputy in the 1955 episode "Sontag and Evans" of thesyndicatedtelevision seriesStories of the Century.The segment was based on the California train robbersChris EvansandJohn Sontag.[5]
The Mickey Mouse Club
[edit]Dodd came to the attention ofWalt Disneyafter submitting a song for the show. Disney was impressed by Dodd's outgoing personality and rapport with the younger members of the cast and signed him to a seven-year contract.[1][2]
TheMickey Mouse Clubaired each weekday. Dodd always wore "Mouseke-ears", played his "Mouse-guitar", and sang self-composed songs. His tunes contained positive messages for kids. Among his other musical contributions is a song that a generation of kids used for nearly a half century to spell "encyclopedia." He performed a regular segment on the show singing "Proverbs, proverbs, they're so true"... and would then expound on a proverb from the Bible and give an explanation of its value in everyday life. He wrote some themes forZorroand performed songs in several of his movies. He also wrote "Lonely Guitar," a Billboard Top 50 charted hit for fellow MouseketeerAnnette Funicelloin 1959. The original Mouseketeers, frequent guests at the Dodd home for backyard barbecues and sing-alongs, said Dodd treated them as part of his own extended family.[6][7]John Updike's novelRabbit, Runmakes reference to Dodd and his appearance on aMickey Mouse Clubepisode.
Death
[edit]Dodd died of cancer at age 54 on November 10, 1964, inHonolulu.He is interred atForest Lawn Memorial Parkin theHollywood HillsofLos Angeles.[8]He was survived by his wife, Ruth.[2]
References
[edit]- ^abc"Jimmie Dodd, 54, Mickey Mouse TV Show Star, Dies".Chicago Tribune.November 11, 1964. p. C10.RetrievedJune 17,2022.
- ^abc"Jimmie Dodd, Headed Mousketeers on TV".The New York Times.November 11, 1964.RetrievedJune 17,2022.
- ^Jimmie DoddatIMDb
- ^"Double Trouble".IMDb.December 26, 1952.RetrievedJanuary 16,2021.
- ^"Stories of the Century:"Sontag and Evans", February 8, 1955 ".IMDb.RetrievedSeptember 15,2012.
- ^Profile,legends.disney.go.com; accessed March 27, 2018.
- ^OriginalMickey Mouse Clubwebsite;accessed March 28, 2015.
- ^Wilson, Scott (August 22, 2016).Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons(3d ed.). McFarland. p. 200.ISBN978-0-7864-7992-4.
- From Club Court to Center Court by Phillip S. Smith (2008 Edition)
External links
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1910 births
- 1964 deaths
- 20th-century American male actors
- 20th-century guitarists
- 20th-century American male singers
- 20th-century American singers
- American acoustic guitarists
- American children's television presenters
- American male film actors
- American television personalities
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
- Deaths from cancer in Hawaii
- Disney music
- Disney Legends
- Guitarists from Ohio
- Male actors from Cincinnati
- Musicians from Cincinnati
- Songwriters from Ohio