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. A little over two decades later, he died suddenly. Currently, Bobby Driscoll is 85 years, 11 months and 10 days old. The real tragedy of Bobby Driscoll was the fact that no one identified his body. As a result, Driscoll was unable to work on the two major pictures that Disney planned for him. He wanted Driscoll gone, and sadly the boy's morphing features were enough grounds. Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? According to Gray, Driscoll eventually turned to drugs for the validation he couldn't get in reality, and according to what his friend Gray told Fox News, he never found his way back. They charged him, but once again, the charges didnt stick. [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. Films: Song of the South, Treasure Island top of page. Despite being one of Disney's first and most successful child stars, Driscoll has never been enshrined as a Disney Legend. Robert Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 c. March 30, 1968) was an American actor who performed on film and television from 1943 to 1960. Robert Cletus Driscoll. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on 1937-03-03. 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. 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. Bobby Driscoll was born Robert Cletus Driscoll on March 3, 1937. On March 30, 1968, two playing children found his dead body in an abandoned East Village tenement. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In 1954, he was awarded a Milky Way Gold Star Award, chosen in a nationwide poll for his work on television and radio. Eventually, Driscoll convinced his parents to re-enroll him to the Hollywood Professional School, where his grades improved. In connection with the re-release of Song of the South in 1971, reporters researching the whereabouts of the film's star first reported his death. Driscoll and Rush eloped in Mexico, although both sets of parents objected to their union. Driscolls moment of peace was painfully brief. Here are details about the life he lived. While Driscoll was the perfect age for the role of Tom Sawyer, legal disputes over the Tom Sawyer story forced Disney to cancel the project altogether, leaving Driscoll high and dry. Soon, Driscoll began butting heads with the law. There, his grades dropped substantially, he was the target of ridicule for his previous film career, and he began to take drugs. Driscolls desire to learn dazzled the director, who ended up choosing Driscoll over the other 40 applicants. An examination revealed that Driscoll passed from heart failure directly related to his drug usage. Bobby Driscoll was born Robert Cletus Driscoll on March 3, 1937. Website about Disney child actor Bobby Driscoll. Includes such notable movie screen appearances as The Fighting Sullivans (1944), Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1948), and The Window (1949), which was not only the sleeper of 1949 but even earned him his Academy Award in March 1950 as the outstanding juvenile actor of 1949. An audition got him a minor acting role at the age of 5. The only son of an insulation salesman and former schoolteacher, Driscoll was discovered at the age of 5 while getting a trim. The sentencing hearing for former City Councilmember Bobby Henon is underway in the Philadelphia federal courthouse. Also Known As: Robert Cletus Driscoll Died At Age: 31 Family: Spouse/Ex-: Marilyn Jean Rush (m. 1956 - div. Other such smaller roles led to a contract from Walt Disney. Robert Cletus Driscoll was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1937. With little choice, Driscoll tried to fit in with the other kids at the West Los Angeles University High School, and the results were utterly heartbreaking. Driscoll was very talented, but he did not know that it all hinged on his facial features. It certainly wasnt the best experience Driscoll had with a production, but it barely put a dent in Driscolls success. It wasnt until one year later that Driscolls family learned of his passing, and the results were agonizingly tragic. After Disney kicked Driscoll to the curb, his parents withdrew him from the Hollywood Professional School, an institution that served child actors. 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. He landed his debut role in "Lost Angels . Bobby is a high school graduate. He was awarded Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street, in 1960. Still determined to become an actor, Driscoll left his parents home at 16. Billy Gray, who also got an early start in showbiz, said that "he was devastated and didn't take the news well.". Bobby Driscoll: his birthday, what he did before fame, his family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. Later, he worked mainly in TV series and radio shows. Bobby Driscoll Age & Birthday. Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. Additional screen portrayals included the boy who could blow his whistle while standing on his head in Sunday Dinner for a Soldier, the "child brother" of Richard Arlen in The Big Bonanza (both 1944), and young Percy Maxim in So Goes My Love (1946),[5] with Don Ameche and Myrna Loy. late) 1967", "Semina Culture Wallace Berman & His Circle", "A Return Trip to a Faraway Place Called Underground", "Santa Monica Museum Of Art Official Homepage", "DIRT- Review and a downloadable clip of the so-called "Bath-sequence", "Hart Island (Potter's Field) Official Homepage (controlled by the "Department Of Correction" and inaccessible to visitors)", "With Re-Release Of Disney Film Child Star's Tragic Death Described", "Bobby Driscoll Won't Be Around For Reissue Of Song of the South", "Benjy Ferree Come Back To The Five and Dime", "Benjy Ferree Announces New Album, Channels Former Child Star Bobby Driscoll", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Driscoll&oldid=1140629992, University High School (Los Angeles) alumni, Articles with dead external links from September 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Episode: "S01, E15, The Ordeal of the S-38", Episode: "Incident of Fear in the Streets", Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten, hosted by Johnny Mercer, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, Walt Disney and James Baskett, hosted by Johnny Mercer, Capitol Records (CDF 3000) narrated by John Beal, RCA Victor (Y-416) narrated by Bobby Driscoll, Byron Haskin interviewed by Joe Adamson, The Directors Guild Of America and The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Metuchen, N.Y. and London, 1984, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 00:36. [54][55], In 1965, early in his tenure at the Factory, Driscoll gave his last known film performance, in experimental filmmaker Piero Heliczer's underground movie Dirt. Driscoll even had the honor of voicing Goofy Jr. in two Disney cartoon shorts, Fathers are People and Fathers Lion. Age (2022) Update Soon. What Driscoll did was simple, but revealed a curiosity for the world around him which deeply impressed the director for Lost Angels. Cast with Charles Boyer, Marsha Hunt, Louis Jourdan, and Kurt Kasznar, he played the juvenile offspring of a patriarch in Quebec of the 1920s, the character upon whom the plot centered. Bobby Driscoll was Disney's first fallen child star whose rejection and eventual self-sabotage led him to a bizarre and unfortunate early death. Three children: Dr. Daniel Abram Driscoll, Aaren Hope Driscoll Keely, and Katherine Ann Driscoll Grundmeier. [66], (This is not necessarily a complete list; it displays all those that could be located and verified. Between 1948 and 1957, he performed on a number of radio productions, which included a special broadcast version of Treasure Island in January 1951 and of Peter Pan in December 1953. The authorities in the United Kingdom allowed Driscoll six weeks to prepare an appeal. We know that Angie D Parrish, Paul Wing, and three other persons also lived at this address, perhaps within a different time frame. Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. and then convincing in anything he ever undertook on the movie screen and on television throughout his career spanning 17 years (1943-1960). Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. It didn't end there; the man also invited Driscoll and his family to his home. His performance won him an Oscar at 12, and by 16, he was given a chance to voice "Peter Pan," an animated film about a boy who never wants to grow up. [30], After Driscoll left the Disney studios, his parents withdrew him from the Hollywood Professional School, which served child movie actors,[31][32][33][34] and sent him to the public West Los Angeles University High School, instead. Advertisement At just five and a half, Robert Cletus Driscoll was discovered in a Los Angeles barbershop as he was getting his haircut. Via Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bobby_Driscoll_1950.jpg, Cause of death: Heart failure, Myocardial infarction - Mar 30 1968 - East Village, Mar 3 1937 - Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa, United States, Cletus Joseph Driscoll, Isabella Isabelle Louise Driscoll, Mar 3 1937 - Cedar Rapids, Linn, Iowa, United States, Mar 30 1968 - New York City, New York, United States, Mar 30 1968 - East Village, United States, Apr 1 1950 - Tley, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, Mar 3 1937 - Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa, United States of America, Mar 30 1968 - New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, United States of America, Driscoll, Driscoll, Driscoll, Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa, United States, 371 East 10th Street, East Village, Manhattan, New York County, New York, United States, Hart Island, Bronx County, New York, United States, U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007. I tried desperately to be one of the gang. [56], On March 30, 1968, two boys playing in a deserted East Village tenement at 371 East 10th St. found Driscoll's body lying on a cot, with two empty beer bottles and religious pamphlets scattered on the ground. Driscoll's second long-run Disney contract allowed him to be lent to independent Horizon Pictures for the double role of Danny/Josh Reed in When I Grow Up (1951). By. Between 1967 and the beginning of 1968, Driscoll left The Factory in a miserable state. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. During the middle of production, authorities discovered that Driscoll did not have a valid British work permit. He successfully continued acting on TV until 1957 and even managed to get two final screen roles; in The Scarlet Coat (1955) and opposite of Mark Damon and Connie Stevens in The Party Crashers (1958). With Charles Boyer, Louis Jourdan, Marsha Hunt, Bobby Driscoll. Their barber's son, an actor, got Bobby an audition at MGM for a role in the family drama Lost Angel (1943), which starred Margaret O'Brien. While Disney likes to believe it has a squeaky-clean image, one look at Bobby Driscoll will tell you that things are never that simple. Father of Private; Private and Private. Although Driscoll did much to bolster Disney during a time of crisis, he is still, to this day, not a part of Disney Legends, the Disney equivalent of a Hall of Fame. They took him in for drug possession, battery, burglary, check kiting, and more. He and his co-star Luana Patten became child-stars and the media dubbed them as Walt Disneys Sweetheart Team.. He had the acting chops and the singing talent, but his Broadway career was largely unsuccessful. The South, Treasure Island top of page radio shows director, ended. Driscoll left his parents to re-enroll him to the Hollywood Professional School, an institution that served child.. 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