Saturday, May 21, 2016

Alan Young, 1919-2016, R.I.P.


A few posts ago, I wrote about wondering whether I'd have enough things to write about now that April's A to Z Challenge is done. Well, unfortunately, as long as celebrities whom I've admired keep dying, it doesn't seem like I'll run out of posts anytime soon.

I was very upset to read last night of the recent passing of Alan Young, whom most of you will remember as Wilbur Post in the old sitcom about a talking horse, Mr. Ed.

In 1988, I had a brief correspondence with Mr. Young.

The 1980s had seen a rush of nostalgic, 1960s-related comic books.  My writing partner, Skip Simpson, and I were talking about doing a one-shot Mr. Ed comic book. While we searched for the holder of the rights to the property, I dashed off a quick letter to Alan Young, star of the early-to-mid-1960s TV show. I asked Mr. Young if he'd be interested in being interviewed for the book. He sent back a very nice reply, and the photo at the top of this post. He said he'd be glad to submit to the interview, if and when we ever got the rights to the project...

...which we didn't. Oh, well.

Anyway, Mr. Young seemed especially glad that my letter to him mentioned other credits of his besides Mr. Ed. Credits like his early 1950s radio (later TV) show, his appearance as two different characters in 1960's The Time Machine, his voice-overs as Uncle Scrooge McDuck, and his role in the then-running sitcom Coming of Age!

In a career of roughly 60-65 years he accomplished a lot more than that. It's always a cliché to say that So-and-So will be missed, but... he will be.


With Joe Besser, Later of The Three Stooges


In 1960's The Time Machine

With Mr. Ed and Young's Co-star, Connie Hines


A Later Shot of Alan and Connie

Uncle Scrooge McDuck from Ducktales

Thanks for your time.

21 comments:

  1. I remember watching reruns of Mr. Ed when I was a kid. It is cool you got to meet him.

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    1. Very talented gentleman and all-around nice guy.

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  2. I never realized he was the voice of Scrooge in Duck Tales! I remember his performance in Time Machine. He was a good actor, and always seemed like nice human being.
    Great tribute!
    Barbara, blogging at Life & Faith in Caneyhead

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  3. Never knew he did Ducktales. Loved that show as a kid. Still pretty good now too. Even though they are rebooting it, ugg.

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  4. It is a shame that he and so many others have now passed away. I know he lived a long time but it's still so since they were from the golden years.

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    1. Right. We've lost sol many in the entertainment field lately, young, and old. At least he had a "good run," as they say.

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  5. Always a melancholy thing when an icon from childhood/youth passes away. He seems like he was a thorough gentleman sending that photo and replying so graciously. A different generation of people, with different values.

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  6. I didn't know the name, and I wouldn't have recognised him - but I do remember Mr Ed from my childhood. I was very young (she says) but I remember loving the idea of a talking horse.

    Susan A Eames at
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

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  7. There were a lot of sitcoms like that back then, pairing "normal" humans with extraordinary companions. Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian... even My Mother the Cart!

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    1. Uhhh, that's "My Mother, the CAR!" Not "cart." Sheesh!

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  8. i did not realize that he was scrooge mcduck's voice. i loved him in mr. ed, but now i am utterly devistated now. he was my favorite duck in the disney characters.

    sigh.

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  9. Wow, that was very nice of him.

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  10. I enjoyed him in Mr. Ed. I especially liked him as the loyal friend in THE TIME MACHINE. A piece of my childhood has passed. :-(

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  11. Seeing Alan Young in The Time Machine was delightful. He brought much to entertainment.

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    Replies
    1. Looks like more people saw The Time Machine than I realized. Heh.

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