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We’re just a few days from our annual Halloween pilgrimage to Disneyworld and I’m getting a little antsy. I’m not sure if writing about Disney is helping time go by more quickly or grinding it to a halt, but either way, this was a fun topic to research. These days we think of “celebrities who started at Disney” as those mini-starlets on the Disney Channel: Miley, Selena, Demi and all of their protégés just waiting in the wings. But these celebrities were actually out there in the trenches, working in parades and telling corny jokes.
1. Steve Martin started his career as a magician at the Main Street Magic Shop at Disneyland. After spending a lot of time at the shop during his youth, he took a job there and mastered magic, juggling, banjo-playing and creating balloon animals. Steve showed that he’s still got what it takes – he showed off a couple of his old sleight-of-hand tricks for an anniversary video that played in the park.
2. Teri Garr. Martin’s co-star Teri Garr also spent some time working at the Happiest Place on Earth. I see her as Cinderella, myself, or perhaps Alice in Wonderland, but Teri was actually a non-character parade dancer.
3. John McEuen, a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. John actually worked with Steve Martin at the magic shop and is the one who taught him how to play the banjo. They went to high school together and remained friends even after they both got famous – it’s the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band who backed Martin on “King Tut.”
4. Michelle Pfeiffer. I guess Teri Garr couldn’t have been Alice, because Michelle Pfeiffer had already claimed the position. Michelle was Alice in the Main Street Electrical Parade in the mid-70s.
5. Alyson Reed is another Alice. You might not know the name, but if you have kids of a certain age I bet you know the face – despite being an accomplished Broadway actress, she may be best known today for her role as Ms. Darbus in High School Musical.
6. John Lasseter, as in the chief creative officer at PIXAR and Disney Animation Studios, started his relationship with The Mouse long before Toy Story: upon his graduation, he got a job at Disneyland as a Jungle Cruise Skipper and later moved up to animator.
7. Ron Ziegler, Richard Nixon’s press secretary. OK, none of these have probably really stunned you up until this point – they’re all creative types. But Ron Ziegler? Yup. He was also a skipper on the Jungle Cruise while attending USC.
8. Joanna Kerns, best known as the mom from Growing Pains. Back in the day of the Main Street Electrical Parade, Joanna played the Blue Fairy (although that’s not her pictured) from Pinocchio whose float kicked off the festivities. Picture by Deb Willis of AllEarsNet.
9. Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters. His story is kind of fun. He worked as one half of a banjo and piano duo, playing old ragtime pieces to fit in with the Main Street theme. At least, they were supposed to. They often took requests from park patrons to play more contemporary songs, like “Light My Fire.” Their boss, Vic Guder, fired them after multiple offenses. Carpenter’s response, the anti-establishment song “Mr. Guder,” can be found on The Carpenters’ LP Close to You.
10. Ronald Reagan, kind of. He was just an out-of-work actor the day Disneyland opened in 1955, and Disney hired him to host a live telecast of the park’s opening. He may not have been a regular cast member, but Disney included him when they recognized all first-day cast members by giving them a lifetime membership to the exclusive Club 55 (not to be confused with Club 33, which anyone can eventually join if they have enough money).
And an honorable mention: Jen at Cake Wrecks was a skipper on the Jungle Cruise as well. The awesomely bad puns on Cake Wrecks totally make sense now!
Do you know any celebrities who sold Mickey ice cream bars or toiled all day under a hot costume? If I’ve left anyone out, share in the comments! And if you’re interested in Disney tweets, I’ll probably be chronicling my week in 140 characters or less next week.
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Comments (21)
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I believe Gena Davis was Goofy.
posted by BethieofVA on 10-21-2009 at 4:50 pm
Kevin Richardson, of Backstreet Boys fame, played Aladdin in the early 90s. He met his wife there I don’t believe she played a character but I could be wrong.
posted by rainy5982 on 10-21-2009 at 5:25 pm
Well, we may not be famous, but my grandparents were jewelers to Mr. Disney, and me, an aunt, an uncle, a great-aunt, and several cousins have all worked for, or still work for Mickey. I’d totally go back, too, just for free park admission.
posted by Tamsyn on 10-21-2009 at 6:38 pm
I used to work there about 6 years ago at the new california adventure and the main disneyland.
not anymore tho. I only comment because i want to say that the employee credit union is the best bank i’ve ever had IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!
i still have an open account and use it on a daily basis.
posted by xanderjones on 10-21-2009 at 6:50 pm
Tim Burton worked on the film “Fox and the Hound” and wanted to kill himself because he hated drawing a girl fox all day. When he was working there he began conceptualizing Nightmare Before Christmas and the drawings he drew, therefore, belonged to the Disney corporation.
posted by Olivia on 10-21-2009 at 7:31 pm
A friend of mine has a Disney Euro Pass signed by Frank Black, MC Hammer and Henry Rollins. Oh and my old room mate worked at Disney World.
posted by IllyJoel on 10-21-2009 at 10:20 pm
Wayne Brady worked as a costume character at Disneyworld. He has an anecdote about passing out (as Tigger) on a parade float on his first day.
posted by Kevin on 10-21-2009 at 10:27 pm
Jennifer Hudson was a singer on the Disney Cruise Line…
I believe she was the lead singer on the Lion King portion of the show.
posted by Preston on 10-21-2009 at 10:35 pm
Steve Martin went to my high school!
@ xanderjones, my mom, my middle sister, and I all have accounts at the Disney bank because my oldest sister worked at disneyland for a year when she was in high school, but funny enough, she doesn’t have an account with them anymore.
posted by Melissa on 10-21-2009 at 11:28 pm
“Alyson Reed is another Alice. You might not know the name…..”
Well, then, she isn’t a real celebrity. High School Musical doesn’t necessarily make a person a celeb.
posted by ICUP on 10-22-2009 at 9:08 am
I know Tim Burton was an animator for Disney before he became a director. I believe he worked on “The Fox and The Hound”.
posted by Lauren on 10-22-2009 at 11:24 am
@ICUP just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t make them not a celebrity.
She was also the star of “A Chorus Line” the movie.
posted by lewen on 10-22-2009 at 12:29 pm
Another famous person at Disney? That’d be me…Jungle Cruise Skipper, College Program ‘90!
posted by Spuchy on 10-22-2009 at 12:32 pm
she’s not so famous, but my mom was a christmas tree in the parade back in ‘84. i guess technically i was too – she was pregnant with me at the time.
posted by tiffany on 10-22-2009 at 1:49 pm
She is if you know Broadway,ICUP.
posted by Marie Antoinette on 10-22-2009 at 4:13 pm
Go GGHS! It’s always nice to say that you went to the same high school as Steve Martin. Even though he never acknowledges it.
posted by Emily on 10-22-2009 at 5:28 pm
@Olivia
“Tim Burton worked on the film “Fox and the Hound” and wanted to kill himself because he hated drawing a girl fox all day. When he was working there he began conceptualizing Nightmare Before Christmas and the drawings he drew, therefore, belonged to the Disney corporation.”
Not exactly… he worked a development deal with Disney, it’s not like they claimed the intellectual property rights to his movie. He was able to get it released on Touchstone because of his relationships @ Disney and their interest in his concept. Your insinuation is that Disney somehow “took” the movie from him… not really. It was definitely a mutually beneficial relationship.
posted by Chris on 10-22-2009 at 8:18 pm
Richard Carpenter suddenly seems a bit more Punk to me.
posted by Joe Maz on 10-22-2009 at 10:00 pm
Jennifer Hudson( of the dream girls fame)worked as an entertainer on Disney Wonder(Disney Cruise)when I was a Crew Member.
posted by Dana on 10-25-2009 at 5:06 am
Steve Martin actually started by selling guidebooks at the front gate and can be briefly seen in “Disneyland Dreams,” the home video that was recently added to the Library of Congress. In his own words (as printed in the Hartford Courant):
“At age eleven I worked at Disneyland. I sold guidebooks at the park from 1956 to about 1958. I am as positive as one can be that I appear about 20:20 into your film, low in the frame, dressed in a top hat, vest, and striped pink shirt, moving from left to right, holding a guidebook out for sale.”
posted by jeff p on 10-26-2009 at 10:41 am
Harlan Ellison loves to tell the story of his single day of employment at Disney. He didn’t even make it through lunch. Check that out, it’s probably good list grist. “Famous Employees Fired On The First Day” or some such.
posted by T Campbell on 11-8-2009 at 8:39 pm