'Mr. Ed' Star & Scrooge McDuck Voice Actor Alan Young Has Died At 96

‘Mr. Ed’ Star & Scrooge McDuck Voice Actor Alan Young Has Died At 96

It’s been a tough year for losses in the entertainment industry. Musicians likePrinceandDavid Bowieleft us along with comedianGarry Shandling, veteran actressDoris Robertsand the incredibleAlan Rickman. Now one more name from the days of classic television and the nostalgic 80s has passed away.Mr. EdstarAlan Young, who was also the voice of Scrooge McDuck on the animated seriesDuckTales, passed away yesterday at age 96.

News of Alan Young dead was revealed byDeadline, confirming the actor has passed away at the Motion Picture and Television Fund campus in Woodland Hills. The actor had a long, decorated career that saw him starting in radio, working in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, and eventually transition to television and movies.

Young’s career in entertainment took off in 1944 when he created his own radio show calledThe Alan Young Show, a sitcom that was broadcast by NBC and ABC throughout the 1940s.  The comedy program was eventually turned into a full fledged variety TV at CBS that lasted for three years and won two Emmys.

The 1950s brought Alan Young to the movies with roles in films such asAndrocles and the Lion,Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, Tom Thumband an adaptation of H.G. WellsThe Time Machinein 1960. But the next year would bring the role that Young would become famous for.

Alan Young was cast as Wilbur Post, an architect who learns that he has a talking horse in the sitcomMr. Ed. Beginning in 1961, the series would last five years for a total of 143 episodes. It would later make a comeback on television in reruns by helping Nickelodeon’s late night program block, Nick at Nite, get off the ground.

After the show was canceled in 1966, Young left the industry for about 10 years. But when he returned, he found a new arena for his talents by using his voice. He voiced a couple characters on the showBattle of the Planets, but it was in 1983 that he would land the role he would be playing for the next 30 years.

Young debuted as Scrooge McDuck inMickey’s Christmas Carol, and he would reprise that role many times over the years, most famously in theDuckTalesanimated series that ran from 1987-1990. In addition, Young would also lend his voice toAlvin & The Chipmunksas a bunch of various voices,The Smurfsas Farmer Smurf,The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man and His Amazing FriendsandThe Ren and Stimpy Show.

But Young didn’t only stick to animation as he also had guest roles onThe Love Boat, The Dukes, St. Elsewhere, Doogie Howser M.D., Coach, Party of Five, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, ERandThe Tony Danza Show. He also had a cameo in the new adaptation ofThe Time Machinein 2002.

In recent years, Young had slowed down his work flow, only voicing Scrooge McDuck a couple times in the last two years. That leaves some big shoes to fill for anyone who wants to step up and voice the Scottish duck millionaire.

Alan Young is a true veteran of acting who lived through the evolution of entertainment from radio to television and films in between. He will be missed, and our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.