About

Known credits:
49
Birthday:
1913-09-30
Place of birth:
New York City, New York, USA
Website:
N/A

Bill Walsh

Overview

Bill Walsh was born in New York to immigrant parents (father from Canada, mother from Ireland). In his teen years he lived with relatives in Cincinnati, OH, and later attended the University of Cincinnati. In 1933 he joined the stock touring company of husband / wife team Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay as a writer, but the couple divorced the next year and Walsh found himself stuck in Hollywood with no job and no prospects. He wound up working as an agent for a publicity agency, one of his clients being ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.

Walsh joined Walt Disney Studios in 1943, working for both the Publicity and Story departments. One of his jobs was to write jokes for the syndicated Mickey Mouse comic strip (he continued doing that on a voluntary basis for more than 20 years, long after he left those departments). Walsh brought his former client Edgar Bergen to Disney to narrate some cartoons and TV shows. Walt Disney, who at first saw television as basically a tool to promote his films, was impressed with Walsh's publicity savvy and chose him to head the studio's television division. His first few projects were resounding successes, and when Disney made a deal with ABC Television to invest in its Disneyland amusement park in exchange for Disney developing a TV series, Walsh was named the series' producer. The show turned out to be The Mickey Mouse Club (1955). Walsh developed the show basically by himself, with little input from Disney, who was more concerned with developing Disneyland. He hired both the child performers and adult hosts on the show, came up with the basic format--rotating "theme" days, animated opening and closing sequences and recurring live-action series, among other innovations--and even helped to develop the famous Mousketeer "ears" each performer wore.

After several seasons on "The Mickey Mouse Club", Walsh wanted to get out of television production and left the show to produce live-action films. He produced quite a few of Disney's comedies and adventure films, the most famous being Mary Poppins (1964), which was one of the studio's biggest successes and pleased critics as much as it did fans. Most of the films he produced, however, were derided by critics as dull and low-quality and helped to cement Disney's reputation for turning out unimaginative, repetitive, assembly-line pap. The films made money for the studio, though, and Walsh and Walt Disney remained close until Disney's death in 1966.

Bill Walsh died of a heart attack in 1975.

Known for

Acting
2006 The Shaggy Dog Kids Actor Self (archive footage) N/A
N/A
1957 Along the Mohawk Trail Actor Kane N/A
N/A

Writing
2006 The Shaggy Dog Writing Original Film Writer 53
Average
1997 The Love Bug Writing Writer 58
Average
1997 Flubber Writing Screenplay 57
Average
1975 One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing Writing Writer 58
Average
1974 Herbie Rides Again Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks Writing Screenplay 66
Fair
1971 Scandalous John Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1968 The Love Bug Writing Screenplay 62
Fair
1968 Blackbeard's Ghost Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1965 That Darn Cat! Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1964 Mary Poppins Writing Screenplay 74
Good
1964 The Misadventures of Merlin Jones Writing Screenstory 59
Average
1963 Son of Flubber Writing Writer 58
Average
1961 The Absent-Minded Professor Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1960 Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1959 The Shaggy Dog Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1957 The Best Doggoned Dog in the World Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1955 The Littlest Outlaw Writing Writer 59
Average
1954 The Disneyland Story Writing Writer 59
Average
1950 One Hour in Wonderland Writing Writer 59
Average

Production
1975 One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing Production Producer 58
Average
1974 Herbie Rides Again Production Producer 59
Average
1973 The World's Greatest Athlete Production Producer 58
Average
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks Production Producer 66
Fair
1971 Scandalous John Production Producer 59
Average
1968 The Love Bug Production Producer 62
Fair
1968 Blackbeard's Ghost Production Producer 60
Fair
1966 Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N. Production Co-Producer 58
Average
1965 That Darn Cat! Production Co-Producer 60
Fair
1964 Mary Poppins Production Co-Producer 74
Good
1963 Son of Flubber Production Co-Producer 58
Average
1961 The Absent-Minded Professor Production Associate Producer 60
Fair
1959 Disneyland '59 Production Associate Producer 59
Average
1959 The Shaggy Dog Production Associate Producer 59
Average
1957 The Adventures of Clint and Mac Production Producer 69
Fair
1956 Westward Ho, The Wagons! Production Producer 58
Average
1956 Adventure in Dairyland Production Producer 70
Good
1956 The Hardy Boys Production Producer 70
Good
1956 Davy Crockett and the River Pirates Production Producer 59
Average
1955 Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race Production Producer 59
Average
1955 Davy Crockett Goes to Congress Production Producer 59
Average
1954 Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter Production Producer 59
Average
1954 The Disneyland Story Production Producer 59
Average
1952 The Riddle of Robin Hood Production Producer N/A
N/A
1951 The Walt Disney Christmas Show Production Producer 59
Average
1950 One Hour in Wonderland Production Producer 59
Average
Corky and White Shadow Production Producer N/A
N/A