WAYNE ALLWINE, a Walt Disney Studios voiceover artist who was the voice of Mickey Mouse for more than three decades, has died at 62. An Emmy Award-winning former sound effects editor, he was married to voiceover artist Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse.
“He really loved doing Mickey Mouse and was very proud that he did it 32 years,” Taylor said.
Since Mickey Mouse hit movie theatres in the cartoon short Steamboat Williein 1928, only three people have supplied the cartoon character's distinctive falsetto: Walt Disney himself, Jimmy Macdonald and Allwine.
Allwine was hired for the job in late 1976 while working in sound effects under Macdonald and continued to supply Mickey’s voice until his death.
Allwine made his debut voicing the world's most famous mouse on The New Mickey Mouse Club(1977-1978) and went on to supply Mickey's voice for Disney movies, TV specials, theme parks, records, toys and video games.
Walt Disney Co chief executive Robert Iger described a “profound sense of loss and sadness throughout our company” over the death of the man who gave voice to Disney’s most beloved character.
“Wayne’s great talent, deep compassion, kindness and gentle way, all of which shone brightly through his alter ego, will be greatly missed,” Iger said.
Allwine, who launched his career at Walt Disney Studios in the post room a few months before Disney died in 1966, had been working in sound effects under Macdonald when he was sent to an open audition for Mickey’s voice after an actor failed to show up.
He later said that doing the famed falsetto of the perennially optimistic Mickey was easy.
“Actually, I was accustomed to doing vocal stuff,” he said in 1997. “My father was a barbershop quartet singer.
“He was a high tenor with an odd voice and could go from lower range to upper range without cracking his voice. I inherited that.”
It was, he said, “a great honour to represent what Walt loved so dearly and what Jimmy kept alive so well”.
In 1986, he shared an Emmy Award for outstanding sound editing for a series for Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories". – ( LA Times-WashingtonPost service)