Then I got older. A household name at the age of 9. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" Decider reached out to Disney for comment as to whether the Peter Pan reference in the Chip n Dale movie was an intentional nod to Bobby Driscoll, but did not hear back before the time of publication. "When Howard Hughes bought RKO, he, in effect, became the owner of the Disney studio," explains Eliot. Russ Tamblyn flirted with the idea of doing a movie about his old pal before deciding he'll devote a chapter or two to Driscoll in his upcoming autobiography. "Was earning $50,000 a year working steadily with good parts. | Photo: Getty Images "I wish I could say that my childhood was a happy one, but I wouldn't be honest," he said in a 1961 magazine article titled "The Nightmare Life of an Ex-Child Star." When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? Hot Stream It Or Skip It: 'Love at First Kiss' on Netflix, a Spanish Rom-Com About a Man Gifted with 'Romantic Clairvoyance', Stream It Or Skip It: Tonight Youre Sleeping With Me on Netflix, a Dull, Passionless Polish Rom-Dram, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Disconnect: The Wedding Planner' on Netflix, A Nollywood Rom-Com, Stream It Or Skip It: 'A Sunday Affair' on Netflix, a Lukewarm Nollywood Love-Triangle Drama, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me' On HBO Max, Making The Oscars Slap All About Him, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Triangle of Sadness' on Hulu, Ruben Ostlund's Skewering of the Moneyed Elite. or redistributed. All rights reserved. [50] He became part of Andy Warhol's Greenwich Village art community known as the Factory,[51] where he began focusing on his artistic talents. "I heard that he was informed that he was no longer under contract through them by driving up to the entrance and being refused entrance into the studio. "If we weren't at Disneyland, we were at collectible stores looking for vintage antiques," says Allender of himself and his dad, who used to write for Tomart's Disneyana Update magazine. And then I immersed myself into his extensive collection of work. "I was carried on a silver platter and then dumped into the garbage can. A child actor's childhood is not a normal one. The apparent cause was heart failure, brought on by his drug abuse. Paperback mysteries usually end this way, not Disney fairy tales. "I was lonely most of the time. Does anyone here even know the name at the center of those five points? ", The only son of an insulation salesman and former schoolteacher, Driscoll was discovered at the age of 5 while getting a trim. There were no obvious signs of foul play. ", "Memories are not very useful," he later reflected about his child stardom. They treated me as one apart. That was typical Warhol the fallen Hollywood Star as grotesque amusement. He just never got his life together. Soon after, Driscoll started to spend time a bit inland, up in Topanga Canyon dabbling in poetry, songwriting and art. Refering to his diffcult transition to teenage and adult years, Bobby Driscoll admitted that his childhood was not a normal one, with people continually praising him, creating an environment of innate conceit. 12,187, This story has been shared 6,086 times. But the shows [] More, You might remember her as Mindy in the off-beat yet endearing 70s and 80s sitcom Mork and Mindy. Just in case you might think that this was all a coincidencethat writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand werent aware of Driscoll when they wrote this particular meta-joke in a movie made out of meta-jokesas Sweet Pete is talking, a film clip rolls of a teenage Peter Pan looking in the mirror at a budding mustache, and, yes, some acne spots on his chin. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Bobby Driscoll American actor (1937-1968) . [1] Scala is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Bobby Driscoll: Date of birth: 3 March 1937 Cedar Rapids Robert Cletus Driscoll: Date of death: 30 March 1968 East Village: Manner of death: natural causes; Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hart Island; Work period (start) 1943; Work period (end) 1965; Country of citizenship: [42] They had two daughters and one son, but the relationship did not last. He was strong(smart) and he should have known better. [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. March 28, 2021, 6:21 am, by This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, He had no identification. How to Stream Garcelle Beauvais' New Lifetime Movie Online, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Gulmohar' on Hulu, a Hindi Family-Ties Drama Marking the Return of Sharmila Tagore, Steven Spielberg Broke Down in Tears Seeing Paul Dano and Michelle Williams as His Parents in 'The Fabelmans', Netflix's 'Money Shot' Documentary Trailer Shines A Harsh Light On Pornhub, The "Most Trafficked Website In The World", 'The Skinny Shot' on Hulu Is An Ozempic "Documentary" That Plays More Like A Commercial, Where Is Estonia Located? Driscoll and Luana Patten were the first two actors Walt Disney placed under contract. But in the context of Driscolls treatment at Disney, the presence of an old, overweight, hairy Peter Panwho goes by the name Sweet Pete and runs an illegal bootleg operation after being tossed aside by the studiofeels just a tad insensitive. Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi reported her cause of death was from accidental "acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication". The former Disney child star who rose to fame at age 9 as "the first human being signed for Disney Productions," won a Juvenile Oscar at age 12 and then went on to voice the title role in 1953's animated film "Peter Pan" at age 16, met a tragic end. All rights reserved. And it wouldnt be until four years later that the public learned of Driscolls grim fate in 1972 when his Disney film "Song of the South" was re-released. )", "Bobby Driscoll Hopes To Rebuild Film Life", "Bobby Driscoll Freed On Bail After Fracas", "Bobby Driscoll Won't Be Around For Reissue Of "Song Of The South" (last column)", "Bobby Driscoll sitting on a couch (on portfolio, page 38, third row it's the last known photograph of him, ca. He had an extremely high I.Q., but the narcotics affected his brain. He didn't want Bobby Driscoll to be with Disney anymore. He was best known for being a TV Actor. Bobby Driscoll was boy who reached success in the movie industry at a very early age. Driscoll's parents were encouraged to help their son become a child performer in films. The family moved to Los Angeles when a doctor advised the father to relocate to California because he was suffering from work-related handling of asbestos. [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. Driscoll attempted to maintain steady work in several TV shows and guest appearances over the years, but he never achieved the same stardom he once had as a sought-after actor. ", Regrettably, Driscoll's children will never see the exact spot where their father was laid to rest: Burial records from 1961 through July 1977 that had been kept in the old hospital were destroyed by a fire. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. He became addicted to narcotics, and was sentenced to prison for illicit drug use. So I decided to take the power back and make my own bootleg movie. While Robert Urich was famous for doing battle with tough foes on the screen. Dawber has married to NCIS star Mark Harmon for more than three [] More, Jan Smithers is a former television actress that is best known for her portrayal of the character Bailey Quarters on the television series WKRP in Cincinnati. So, it shouldnt really be that big of a surprise that, with numbers like those, celebrities would face the same risk of dying [] More, The Shocking Life & Death of Bobby Driscoll, Judge Judy is Quitting Heres Her New Show, Scientists Discovered Evidence That Exposes An Ancient Lie About Woolly Mammoths, Handlers Thought This Owl Was Male For 23 Years Then He Laid An Egg, This Baby Elephant Decided To Spend His Last Days Alongside This Creature, Woman Adpots Tiny, Adorable Puppy. The body was unknown and went unclaimed. Even the Oscar that Driscoll won for many, the ultimate sign of professional success in the movie industry was lost over the years. He even created collages and small works of art. When it was released in May 1949, it became a surprise hit. 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. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER REMEMBERED BY SOUND OF MUSIC CO-STAR JULIE ANDREWS: I HAVE LOST A CHERISHED FRIEND, Bobby Driscoll with pen in mouth in a scene from the film 'When I Grow Up', 1951. ", Eliot has a far more sobering rationale. They were allowed to remain for six weeks to prepare an appeal, and director Byron Haskin hastily shot all of Driscoll's close-ups,[16] using his British stand-in to film missing location scenes after his parents and he had returned to California. The cause of death for the penniless 31-year-old was hardening of the arteries, a common side effect of longtime heroin use, Entertainment Weekly reported. ", The budding star made four movies for Disney, including Treasure Island, Peter Pan, and So Dear to My Heartwhich, together with his role in The Window for RKO Pictures, earned Driscoll the Juvenile Academy Award in 1950. Gray said he and his pal lost touch when Driscoll headed to New York. Id never been so happy in my entire life. Bobby Driscoll suffered a tragic life after Disney dropped him. In 1965, a year after his parole expired, he relocated to New York, hoping to revive his career on the Broadway stage, but was unsuccessful. And he didnt take the news well.". 1,686, This story has been shared 1,509 times. But according to the New York Daily News, the 29-year-old died by suicide in August 2013. "[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. In today's world, it's a familiar and predictable narrativea star who began his or her career on the Disney lot grows up and out of the squeaky-clean confines of the studio.