Disney: The tragic and horrible fate of the studio’s first child star

He starred in his first film at the age of 6; He was one of the first child stars to sign a contract with Walt Disney at the age of nine; He received an Oscar at the age of 13. The ascending and dazzling trajectory of the very young Bobby Driscoll was as spectacular as his eclipse, and his terrible descent into hell would be utterly abominable, in complete anonymity until his death just 54 years ago, on March 30, 1968.

Born March 3, 1937 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bobby Driscoll Was the only son of Cletus, a sales representative in the construction industry, and Isabel, a former teacher. On the advice of a family doctor, he moved to California in 1943, where the doctor said the air would be better for the father of the family, whose health had deteriorated due to regular work in contact with asbestos.

Young Bobby was spotted completely by accident when he was taking his father to the hairdresser. “My father took me to Pasadena with a hairdresser whose son worked in a movie theater. I liked the barber, so he told his son about me, who told his agent about me. The role with Margaret O’Brien The lost angel“ Bobby will say in a 1946 radio interview.

Gold contract at Disney

While his screen presence in this film is very minimal (barely 2 minutes), this allows him to quickly move on to other roles. In 1946 he really discovered the Disney product Mélodie du Sud. Disney Studios ’11th animated feature film, combining animation and live action, is adapted from Joel Chandler Harris’ “Tales of Uncle Remus”, published 1880-1905.

The film also allowed actor James Baskett, who plays Uncle Remus, to receive an honorary Oscar, while the film received an Oscar for Best Song. In ancient South America, with former slaves and their former masters, in a cotton plantation. South Melody It remains the largest stone in Disney shoes to this day.

Shortly after this movie, Bobby signs a contract with Walt Disney. Like the beloved Shirley Temple, “America’s Precious Little Girl,” Bob’s fat face is adopted and recognized by millions of Americans who still discover him, still at Disney, Treasure Island, or Dennis, the little black sheep in 1949.

Here is a small excerpt from the movie …

In 1950 he received an Oscar de la jeunesse (a category that no longer exists) for the film An Incredible Story. Three years later he gives his qualities to a boy who did not want to grow up, Peter Pan, and doubles as an animated character created by a Disney firm. At the peak of his popularity, he already had the signal honor of receiving his star Walk of Fame Hollywood Blvd.

Below is an excerpt from the Oscar ceremony where Bobby receives his award:

However, the same year, 1953, sounded like a thunderstorm for the young actor: Disney abruptly terminated his contract, three years before the scheduled date. The reasons, though unclear, are varied. But at least, already physical.

Bobby no longer looks like that charming kid or dirty face; He has acne, his voice has changed and now it is deeper … and it is said that Howard Hughes, the billionaire owner of RKO and the distributor of Disney movies, can not stand this Hollywood incarnation that he hates. Nevertheless, he learns of his dismissal very suddenly: he is forbidden to enter the studio at night …

Going to hell

A descending spiral begins. His parents enrolled him in high school at the University of West Los Angeles, but to no avail. Desiring to falsify his own destiny and pave the way, he leaves New York to get lost for a while; Married and divorced, twice. Despite some roles in television, including the series Rawhide (which will release some Clint Eastwood) or Dragnet, “He will never recover after being abandoned by Hollywood” Said his friend Billy Gray at Entertainment Weekly.

While taking drugs, he regularly takes heroin and has been arrested several times for drug possession, fraud, theft, assault … The complete criminal record he sent to the Chino Rehabilitation Center in 1961. “I had it all. I was making $ 50,000 a year, I was exercising regularly. Then I was spending all my free time on my arm. I do not know when I started taking drugs.” Will tell the judge before passing judgment. “I was 17 years old when I really did the experiments. In a short time I was doing everything that was available, especially heroin. Because I had the money for it.”

After his release from prison in 1962, he became a carpenter, then tried to return, but Hollywood no longer wanted him. In 1965 he moved to Greenwich Village, New York, but had a bad reputation and was not hired by anyone. He then returned to underground culture and often walked around Andy Warhol’s factory for a while, then completely disappeared from the public scene.

On March 30, 1968, two children playing in an empty space near East Village discovered Bobby Driscoll’s body between empty beer bottles and religious publications. Police arrived at the scene but were unable to identify the body. A forensic examination will confirm that Bobby Driscoll died of a heart attack caused by an advanced stage of atherosclerosis.

His identity has not been confirmed and no one is declaring the body, he is buried in a morgue in Hart Island Cemetery. Less than a year and a half after his death, his identity was confirmed, thanks to a fingerprint he left in a dormant file in the drawer of a New York police station. A tragic memory from his numerous arrests …

In a tragic fate his mother learns of his death only two years later. As for the public, Bobby Driscoll only learns of his fate in 1972, thanks to a brief stint in theaters. South Melody. It is unfortunate to divide the stones in two …