Bobby Driscoll was a bright young child star for Disney… until he was ultimately
terminated by the company, simply for becoming a teenager with acne. He died a tragic death
and is remembered today as a sad story of loss and drug addiction. Stay Tuned,
as Facts Verse presents: Bobby Driscoll's Cause of Death Was Utterly Tragic
Bobby Driscoll got his start in the entertainment business at the age of five. But it wasn’t because
he was chasing a dream that he’d already been having. It was simply on the advice of a local
barber. He was in Pasadena, CA, and getting his haircut one day, when the barber commented that he
had a look that would be perfect for movies. What Bobby and his parents didn’t realize was that the
barber’s son was already in the acting world, and had an agent. The barber convinced them to come to
his house that weekend and talk to his son about what he thought of being in the movies. They did,
and the barber agreed to set up a meeting between Bobby and the boy’s agent. The agent
took Bobby on and managed to help him land a role very quickly. It was a small part,
but it was a great introduction to the business for the young boy. Bobby’s role was in the
movie Lost Angel, from 1943, which starred Margaret O’Brien. It may have been a bit part,
but it led to parts in nine different movies in the next three years. One of those was
called “So Goes My Love” and it starred Don Ameche and Myrna Loy. Not only did it give
Bobby a chance to cut his chops in the acting world, it was also a gig that impressed his
fellow costars. Don Ameche talked about the fact that he had worked with a lot of young
stars in his career, but that of all of them, he thought Bobby had the brightest future.
Song Of The South That prediction seemed to begin coming true
when Bobby landed a role in the major hit, Song of The South in 1946. He was nine at the time, and
this was by far the biggest project he’d worked on to date. The movie was ahead of its time in many
ways, as it blended live-action with animation, something that hadn’t been seen before. Bobby
played the role of Johnny, a child visiting his grandpa at his plantation. The movie was set in
the southern US during the Era of Reconstruction. Almost immediately, however, there was a backlash
against the movie, and its whitewashing of slavery. It also relied upon some pretty
horrible racial stereotypes. These days it’s no longer considered an important or good film
because of those elements. But at the time it did well at the box office. And that was enough
to make it a big step in Bobby’s career. He was offered a contract with the newly established
Walt Disney Productions, becoming the first person to do so. Disney himself was quite fond of Bobby’s
talent and kept utilizing him in more movies. These included So Dear to My Heart in 1948,
as well as Melody Time that same year. And the production team at Disney certainly wanted to make
sure their initial investment in Bobby panned out. They closely supervised many aspects of
his life. According to Bobby’s mom, the workers there weren’t allowed to swear in front of him.
Though that isn’t that crazy, considering he was only 9. Walt apparently saw Bobby as the classic
All-American kid and felt as such that he’d have a long career as a child actor, and potentially
more. He even saw elements of his own youth in Bobby, making him like the child even more.
Awards Success Bobby’s early success wasn’t
limited to musical and animated fare, however. Disney allowed him to be borrowed for the movie,
The Window, in 1949. It was made by RKO Pictures, who perhaps saw the same potential in Bobby that
Disney did. The movie was a thriller, and young Bobby’s character witnesses a murder.
His performance was lauded by critics and fans alike. Even the NY Times wrote that
his work in the film was brilliant, adding, that there was an “acute expression of peril
etched on the boy's face and reflected by his every movement as he flees death.”
Back in the day, the Oscars had an award for child actors, known as the Juvenile Award. It
was given to performers under 18 for their work in general, not for any specific role.
But after seeing Bobby’s performance in The Window, the Academy deemed him worthy of the
award. The excited young boy was effusive in his acceptance speech, thanking God
as well as his wonderful parents. It seemed as if Bobby was on a path towards mega stardom.
The Early 1950s The early ‘50s saw Bobby’s career start to
really take off. He was still a cute and talented young kid with a lot of burgeoning star power.
He signed on to the Disney movie Treasure Island in 1950, which was live action adaptation of the
famous Robert Louis Stevenson novel. As the lead in the film, Bobby carried it quite well, putting
his skills to the test as the main character, Jim Hawkins. Jim is on a hunt for buried treasure when
he has run-ins with local pirates. Of course, as tends to happen when you’ve had a string of great
reviews, there were some critics who didn’t think Bobby nailed the part. But that was mostly because
he was the sole American in a cast full of Brits. At the same time, the New York Times was floored
by his performance, saying he fully embodied the role, and was a delight to watch. And clearly,
Disney was impressed with the performance as well, since they asked him to return to
the role the next year in a radio adaptation. But the biggest role of Driscoll’s career came
off the back of these performances. Oddly enough, it was one that didn’t see Bobby performing on
screen. Instead, he serves as the voice for the animated feature, Peter Pan. This was in 1953,
when Bobby was 16. It was notable because prior to the film, Peter Pan had always been played by
women. Bobby worked opposite Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice for Wendy. Together,
they recorded in an empty sound stage, where Disney not only recorded their voices
for the part, but also their movements. They choreographed much of the animation around the
way Bobby and Kathryn moved in the sound stage. Not only was Peter Pan well received by critics
and audiences alike, it managed to become the highest grossing film of 1953. Disney capitalized
on this by inviting the cast to perform it in a live action radio setting. The film has since
become a Disney classic, having been rereleased eight different times over the years in theatres.
The Beginning of The End While you might assume that Bobby’s
success would have propelled him into further stardom, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
He had managed to make the transition for a child actor to a teenaged actor,
and was actually finding his biggest success to date. And yet, the challenges of puberty ended up
wreaking havoc on Bobby’s career. Reportedly, Bobby suffered from a lot of acne in his teen
years. This of course is an ailment incredibly common to teenagers, but it can become an issue
for teens trying to be constantly on camera. When he’d act, the makeup department would have to use
a lot of make up to cover up the acne. But the acne, combined with his general changing face
as he went through puberty, apparently turned off the execs at Walt Disney Productions. They
felt he no longer had the boyish charm and looks that had made him so successful. And despite it
being no fault of his own, Bobby lost favor with the folks at Disney. There was another
factor that had nothing to do with him that contributed to his downfall as well. At the time,
RKO pictures had begun distributing all of Disney’s movies. And the certifiably crazy
Howard Hughes had recently purchased RKO. Hughes, among his many idiosyncrasies, didn’t like the
idea of having children on the payroll. Which of course is a fairly ridiculous thing if you
are distributing Disney films. But as the owner he was entitled to make those kinds of changes.
The end result was that Disney dropped Bobby from his contract a full three years before
it was set to expire. And they didn’t have the courtesy to even let him know. One day, he tried
to enter the studio lot to go to work, and they wouldn’t let him in. He soon tried to sign with
other studios in town, but his status as a Disney star somehow meant that other studios didn’t take
him seriously. This was in spite of his prior work in The Window, and his Juvenile Oscar.
Bobby’s Downfall The career fall had
devastating effects on Bobby’s emotional state. He reportedly was utterly devastated by it, and
felt as it Hollywood had thrown him away like garbage. He had been receiving schooling at
Hollywood Professional School with other child actors, but his parents were forced to enroll
him in local public school. His status as a former actor and new kid made him
a target of bullies. And according to Bobby, his only recourse was to fight back. As such,
he became “belligerent and cocks and was afraid all the time.” Eventually he was able to persuade
his parents to let him leave public school and enroll back in the Hollywood Professional School.
But by then he’d already begun experimenting with drugs, which eventually led to his downfall.
His late career and death Bobby was able to get occasional
roles in the next several years, but his drug addiction quickly overtook him. Any
money he’d make from acting would immediately go towards his drug habit. His mother said in an
interview that he completely stopped caring about how he looked and his hygiene disappeared. Soon,
his acting roles dried up, and he began resorting to crime. He was arrested for
a variety of felonies, garnering a solid criminal record. He spent some time in rehab,
before moving to NY to try stage acting. But that didn’t yield much success. Sadly, in 1968,
Bobby’s body was found in an abandoned apartment building in Greenwich Village,
having died of heart failure. The signs all pointed to it coming as a result of heroin
addiction. The tolls of failed stardom and drug addiction had finally taken their toll on him.
Do you remember young Bobby Driscoll from his
Disney days? Let us know in the comments section below!