Bless his bagpipes

May 20, 2016 6:30 PM

Alan Young, who played Wilbur on the TV show Mr. Ed, and much more recently was the voice of Scrooge McDuck in recent productions, including the cartoon show DuckTales, has passed away at the age of 96.

• He had a radio and TV show, called The Alan Young Show. Episode from 1950. Here's another from 1951. And an episode of the radio show, from 1945. More can be found on YouTube.
• He appeared in a variety of other shows over the years, from The Love Boat, to ER, to Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
• He was the voice of 7-Zark-7, a dubious addition in Sandy Frank's English localization of Gatchaman, Battle of the Planets. (Thanks, oneswellfoop!)
• One of his last roles was reprising the voice of Scrooge McDuck in the video game Ducktales Remastered.

Here's a six-part interview with Alan Young: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

posted by JHarris (32 comments total)

I was very sad to see this today. I absolutely loved Mr Ed as a child. Thanks for the great post...

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posted by pearlybob at 6:52 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

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Trim the sails and roam the sea.
posted by wanderingmind at 6:54 PM on May 20, 2016 [5 favorites]

Mr. Ed was the first TV show I remember watching. It used to play every night (I think?) in reruns. I couldn't believe things weren't always filmed in color. I couldn't believe an animal could talk!!! I can still sing that theme song.

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posted by sallybrown at 6:57 PM on May 20, 2016

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posted by slater at 7:01 PM on May 20, 2016

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posted by gusandrews at 7:01 PM on May 20, 2016

Ah, I made a typo, "Gatchman" in the FPP should actually be "Gatchaman," or more accurately "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman," to be pedantic. Which had two awesome theme songs. And...

Er. Maybe I shouldn't derail my own thread, heh.
posted by JHarris at 7:01 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

After the great Kliph Nesterhoff mentioned that he was still alive, I started peeking at Mr. Ed episodes that are still on broadcast reruns, GetTV or Decades, I think. It's aged very well! Much funnier than I remembered from when I was a kid.

Thank you for playing straight man to a sarcastic horse who didn't really like you very much, Alan Young!

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posted by rhizome at 7:09 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

"Awww, Will-burrr..."



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posted by Mental Wimp at 7:15 PM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

Mr. Ed was awesome entertainment for a little kid living in the '60s.

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posted by Thorzdad at 7:21 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

May he bathe in a vast pit of gold coins.

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posted by 4ster at 7:42 PM on May 20, 2016 [5 favorites]

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Yes, a horse IS a horse. And for the record, Ed was voiced by Allan "Rocky" Lane. And I owned a "talking Mr. Ed puppet" when I was a widdle kid in those days.

Still, the oldest living voice actor, at 98½, is June Foray (who first did "Granny" when she was still in her 20s and did "Rocky Squirrel" just two years ago).

As for Alan Young, I was tickled that after he'd been doing Scrooge McDuck for several years, he voiced a character known only as "The Scotsman" on Ren & Stimpy.
posted by someothercraig at 7:44 PM on May 20, 2016 [7 favorites]

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posted by Joey Michaels at 8:39 PM on May 20, 2016

Always loved him in The Time Machine, playing Rod Taylor's friend.

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posted by kinnakeet at 8:59 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

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posted by MrBadExample at 9:56 PM on May 20, 2016

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posted by mosk at 10:04 PM on May 20, 2016

Unca Scrooge!
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posted by Going To Maine at 11:05 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

🌜🐴🌛
posted by clavdivs at 11:33 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

. (my childhood D:)
posted by supercrayon at 2:53 AM on May 21, 2016

Tougher than the toughies, smarter than the smarties, and, by God, he made it square.

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posted by BiggerJ at 3:00 AM on May 21, 2016 [2 favorites]

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posted by Gelatin at 5:22 AM on May 21, 2016

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posted by Faint of Butt at 6:11 AM on May 21, 2016

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I have a copy of the Mr. Ed theme in German somewhere. Great for torturing your neighbors.
posted by jonmc at 6:14 AM on May 21, 2016 [5 favorites]

//Mr. Ed was awesome entertainment for a little kid living in the '60s.//

60s? My kids watched them all, or all we had on DVD anyway, in the oughts (2000s).

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posted by COD at 6:22 AM on May 21, 2016 [2 favorites]

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posted by allthinky at 6:58 AM on May 21, 2016

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posted by dannyboybell at 7:10 AM on May 21, 2016

After watching this comparison between Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets, it occurs to me that 7-Zark-7 might be part of the inspiration for Cuber in Adventure Time.
posted by xigxag at 7:17 AM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

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posted by Splunge at 8:35 AM on May 21, 2016

Kliph Nesteroff's comprehensive interview from 2010.
posted by rhizome at 10:04 AM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

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posted by Spatch at 2:32 PM on May 21, 2016

And here's an article about Young's pre-MisterEd career.

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posted by oneswellfoop at 3:35 PM on May 21, 2016

I only recently realised he was still alive and now... :(
posted by crossoverman at 3:40 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

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posted by On the Corner at 12:51 AM on May 23, 2016