Bill Walsh (producer) facts for kids

William Crozier Walsh (born September 30, 1913 – died January 27, 1975) was a talented film producer, writer, and comic strip writer. He worked mostly on live-action movies for Walt Disney Productions. He was born in New York City.

He was nominated for Academy Awards for his work on the movie Mary Poppins. He shared nominations for Best Picture with Walt Disney and for writing with Don DaGradi. Walsh also wrote the Mickey Mouse comic strip for over 20 years. In 1970, a magazine called Variety said he was one of the most successful film producers ever, even though many people didn't know his name.

Discovering William Walsh's Life

Early Years and Education

Walsh was born in 1913 in New York. His parents had moved there from other countries. He grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his aunt and uncle, Agnes and William Newman.

He was good at sports and played football at Purcell High School. He also wrote sports news for a local newspaper called the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune. In 1934, he received a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati for his athletic skills.

Starting His Career in Entertainment

While at the University of Cincinnati, Walsh produced a show for new students. Two famous actors, Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay, happened to see it. They were impressed and hired Walsh to rewrite their own show, Tattle Tales. He earned $12 a week for this job. The show even made it to Broadway!

After that, Walsh followed Stanwyck and Fay to Hollywood. He worked as a press agent for 15 years at a company called Ettinger. A client named Edgar Buchanan suggested he try writing jokes, which he started doing as a side job.

Writing for Disney Comics

In 1943, Walsh joined the Disney company as a press agent. He soon started writing the Mickey Mouse comic strip as a side project. Walsh once said that he found Mickey Mouse "dull" and preferred Donald Duck because Donald had "pizzazz."

Because Walsh wasn't very interested in Mickey as a character, and he loved science fiction, mystery, and horror stories, his comic strip plots became very different. His stories were often darker and more exciting than earlier ones, and he created many unique characters.

• Eega Beeva: Walsh created Eega Beeva, an advanced man from the future. Eega Beeva became a main character in the strip from 1947 to 1950, often taking the place of Goofy as Mickey's helper.
• Ellsworth: Another character Walsh created was a bird named Ellsworth. Ellsworth appeared as Mickey's sidekick in the Sunday comic pages. He sometimes became the main focus, even more than Mickey!

Walsh continued to write the daily Mickey Mouse strip for over 20 years. He worked closely with artist Floyd Gottfredson on many stories until 1955. After that, the strip changed to a "gag-a-day" format, meaning it had a new short joke every day. Walsh kept writing these daily gags until 1964, when he passed the job to Roy Williams.

While at Disney, Walsh also wrote jokes for the "Panchito" stories in the Silly Symphony comic strip from 1944 to 1945. He also created the Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit Sunday comic strip from 1945 to 1946.

Producing Disney Television Shows

In the late 1940s, Disney put Walsh in charge of their television projects. He wrote and produced many TV specials, starting with One Hour in Wonderland in 1950.

Walsh produced several very successful TV shows, including:

• Davy Crockett (1954–1955)
• The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1959)

He also wrote the movie The Littlest Outlaw (1955). Walsh produced many TV series that were shown as part of The Mickey Mouse Club. These included Spin and Marty, Corky and White Shadow, The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, Adventure in Dairyland, The Adventures of Clint and Mac, and Walt Disney Presents: Annette. In 1959, he started working on feature films.

Creating Popular Disney Movies

Walsh wrote and produced The Shaggy Dog (1959). This fantasy comedy starred Fred MacMurray, Tommy Kirk, and Kevin Corcoran. It was made for little money but became a huge hit. It was Disney's most profitable film at the time!

The same team then made Toby Tyler (1959), a circus movie. It was well-liked by critics but not as popular as The Shaggy Dog.

Walsh wrote and produced a series of very popular comedies starring Fred MacMurray and Tommy Kirk:

• The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), a fantasy film.
• Bon Voyage! (1962), a family comedy about Americans traveling abroad, also with Kevin Corcoran.
• Son of Flubber (1963), a sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor.

He also provided the story for The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), another fantasy comedy with Tommy Kirk.

Walsh co-wrote the musical Mary Poppins (1964). This movie became the most popular film Disney had ever released! He wrote it with Don DaGradi, who became Walsh's most frequent writing partner. Walsh often worked with a co-writer or oversaw other writers.

Walsh also wrote and produced:

• That Darn Cat! (1965)
• Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966)
• Blackbeard's Ghost (1968)

Later Career and Legacy

After Walt Disney passed away in 1966, Walsh was part of a seven-person committee that managed the company. He wrote and produced The Love Bug (1969), which was a huge success.

In 1970, Walsh shared his thoughts on filmmaking. He said, "I make movies for people between the ages of nine and fourteen. It's a very intelligent and very honest audience." He also mentioned that he made movies hoping they would earn money so he could make more films. He never wanted to direct because he felt it involved too much talking to actors and early mornings!

He wrote and produced Scandalous John (1971), which he said was his favorite film, even though it was the only one that didn't make money. Much more popular was Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

In 1971, Walsh explained that his main contribution to films was "fantasy." He had "nutty ideas" that other studios might reject, but they fit well at Disney.

His later films included:

• The World's Greatest Athlete (1973)
• Herbie Rides Again (1974)
• One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)

William Walsh passed away from a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1975. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale.

William Walsh's Filmography

Here is a list of some of the movies and TV shows William Walsh worked on:

• One Hour in Wonderland (1950) (TV special) - writer, producer
• The Walt Disney Christmas Show (1951) (TV special) - producer
• The Disneyland Story (1954) (TV special) - writer, producer
• Davy Crockett (1954–55) (mini series) - producer
• The Littlest Outlaw (1955) - writer
• The Adventures of Spin and Marty (1955) (TV series) - producer
• Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (1955) - producer
• The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–56) (TV series) - producer
• Corky and White Shadow (1956) (TV series) - producer
• The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure (1956) (TV series) - producer
• Adventure in Dairyland (1956) (TV series) - producer
• Further Adventures of Spin and Marty (1956) (TV series) - producer
• Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956) - producer
• Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956) - associate producer
• The Fourth Anniversary Show (1957) (TV special) - producer
• The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Ghost Farm (1957) (TV series) - producer
• The Adventures of Clint and Mac (1957) (TV series) - producer
• Annette (1958) (TV series) - producer
• Disneyland '59 (1959) (TV special) - producer
• The Shaggy Dog (1959) - writer, associate producer
• Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960) - writer, producer
• The Absent Minded Professor (1961) - writer, associate producer
• Bon Voyage! (1962) - writer, associate producer
• Son of Flubber (1963) - writer, co producer
• The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) - story
• Mary Poppins (1964) - writer, co-producer
• That Darn Cat! (1965) - writer, co-producer
• Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966) - writer, co-producer
• Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) - writer, co producer
• The Love Bug (1969) - writer, producer
• Scandalous John (1971) - writer, producer
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) - writer, producer
• The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World (1971) (TV special) - writer, executive producer
• The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) - producer
• Herbie Rides Again (1974) - writer, producer
• One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975) - writer, producer