Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor, who, for Disney, portrayed Wilson Daniels in The Shaggy Dog and Professor Ned Brainard in both The Absent-Minded Professor and Son of Flubber. He also appeared in Bon Voyage!, Follow Me, Boys!, The Happiest Millionaire, and Charley and the Angel.
Born in Kankakee, Illinois; MacMurray played the saxophone and clarinet in numerous local bands before switching to acting where he would show his versatility in radio and films, like The Gilded Lily, Alice Adams, The Princess Comes Across, Swing High, Swing Low, True Confession, Double Indemnity, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Above Suspicion, Where Do We Go from Here?, The Apartment, The Caine Mutiny, Singapore, Father Was a Fullback, The Oregon Trail, and The Swarm. In 1960, he turned to television as Steve Douglas, the widowed patriarch in My Three Sons which also featured Mouseketeer, Don Grady. His other television credits include General Electric Theater, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, and Cimarron City.
In 1978, MacMurray retired from acting following diagnosis of throat cancer and receiving treatment though it would return in 1987. That same year, MacMurray was also the first person to be named a Disney Legend. He also suffered a severe stroke during Christmas 1988 which left his right side paralyzed and his speech affected, although with therapy he was able to make a ninety percent recovery. After suffering from leukemia for more than a decade, MacMurray died from pneumonia at age 83 in 1991 at his home in Santa Monica, California. His body was entombed in Holy Cross Cemetery.
Disney Roles[]
(The Shaggy Dog)
(Bon Voyage!)
(Follow Me, Boys!)
(Charley and the Angel)
