June 13: A Great Big Day of Disney Birthdays

Born today June 13 -

1892: British actor Basil Rathbone - one of the narrators of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Best remembered for his movie roles of Sherlock Holmes and various swashbuckling villains. A Tony-Award winner (for his Broadway performance in The Heiress), Rathbone was considered the greatest swordsman in Hollywood! Disney's The Great Mouse Detective features a cameo of the character of Sherlock Holmes - using an early voice recording of Rathbone.

1910: Character actress Mary Wickes - known for her comedic roles on TV and in feature films. She portrayed the jocular maid Katie in the Mickey Mouse Club serial "Annette," was the animators' live-action model for Cruella De Vil in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, appeared as Miss Wigginton in the live-action comedy Snowball Express, and provided the voice for the wise-cracking gargoyle Laverne in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. You may also recognize Wickes for her role of Sister Mary Lazarus in Touchstone's
Sister Act and Sister Act 2.

1920: Film and musical theater actor Rex Everhart - the voice of Maurice,
Belle's father in Disney's 1991 animated feature Beauty and the Beast. He is known to fans of the horror flicks Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2 as Enos the truck driver. Everhart's stage credits include 1776, Anything Goes, and Chicago.

1926: Comedian and actor Paul Lynde - who had a small role in Disney's 1963 Son of Flubber as a sportscaster. A noted character actor, fans of classic TV will know him from the series Bewitched, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie and as a regular on the game show Hollywood Squares. He also appeared in both the Broadway stage version and the feature adaptation of the musical Bye Bye Birdie.

1948: Film executive, producer, and film director Joe Roth - who was chairman of Walt Disney Studios between 1994-2000. First beginning as a production assistant in the 1970s, Roth replaced Jeffery Katzenberg as Disney's CEO in September 1994.

1949: English actor, writer, and theater director Simon Callow - the voice of the Grasshopper in Disney's musical fantasy James and the Giant Peach. Film fans will recognize Callow from such features as Amadeus, Howards End, and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

1953: Comedian & actor Tim Allen - the voice of Buzz Lightyear for Disney/Pixar's
Toy Story films. Known to fans of the hit sitcom Home Improvement as Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor (which ran between 1991-1999), Allen stars in The Santa Clause series of feature films. His Disney credits also include Jungle 2 Jungle and The Shaggy Dog.

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