Things you didn't know about Downey: Mouseketeers

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

People of my age would be singing this. We would rush home to watch “Spin and Marty” and “The Mickey Mouse Club.” 

On Sept. 28, 2021, Tommy Kirk died at the age of 79. He grew up in Downey and attended Alameda School. We have a class picture of him and you would be to identify him. 

His Disney films included “Swiss Family Robinson,” “The Shaggy Dog,” “The Absent Minded Professor” and its sequel, “Son of Flubber.” 

Tommy was pleasantly handsome, he could play both leads and character parts, though his leads usually had a bit of the character actor and his secondary roles tended to make a bigger impression than the headliners. 

He was named a Disney legend in 2006 and would show up for fan conventions. He appeared with Annette Funicell in several films -- one of my favorites was “Old Yeller.” A western drama about a good dog and the passing of the dog -- it will have you weeping. 

What fond memories I have of him and the pictures he starred in. 

Another Mouseketeer is Dennis Day of Downey. The following is taken from the Southeast News dated April 17, 1981: 

Dennis Day, a former Downey resident, was one of the original Mouseketeers and used to call Walt Disney “Uncle Walt.” 

Today, however, he’s turned in his mouse ears for a monk’s habit as an aspiring lay brother in the Oblates of St. Genesis, a monastic order of the Christ Catholic Church of San Francisco. Currently he’s making delicacies for the Renaissance Faire in Agoura. 

The Day family moved to Downey when Dennis was nine years old. Fred Day, Dennis’ father, was the superintendent of the Rio Hondo Country Club. 

“We lived between the 16th and 18th holes,” quipped Dennis. “Us kids developed a permanent stoop as a result of walking to school and looking out for flying golf balls.” 

After doing bit parts on the “Red Skelton Hour,” the “Roy Rogers Show,” and several commercials, young Dennis, at age 11, attended a cattle call, during which an estimated 5,000 child actors were auditioned for parts as Mickey Mouse Mouseketeers. 

“They really didn’t know what they were looking for -- probably just kids who could cope,” related Dennis. 

Getting on stage with his sister, Nelda, for a tap dance routine, Dennis remembers putting the brakes to their act midway through. 

“The pianist was playing too fast and I told him to hold it,” he said. “I showed him the tempo we wanted and continued with the number. I guess that impressed them because I got the part.” 

Dennis described the Mouseketeers as a 1950s phenomenon. 

“People in the 1950s grew up with us and idolized us,” he said. “We were told that Walt Disney chose us out of all the children in the world to be Mouseketeers. We were supposed to show other children what they were supposed to be like.

“Even though we were Mouseketeers, we were still kids, and once caused him (Walt Disney) to get his hand caught in an elevator.”

Another time, said Dennis, he panicked the creator of Disneyland by getting into a makeup man’s kit and spreading blood all over his arm. 

“I saw him talking to Darlene Gillispie and I showed him my arm,” remarked Dennis. “He took me halfway to the infirmary before he found out it was makeup.” 

However, one day it just all stopped. 

“The show had ended and that was that,” said Dennis. “Nevertheless, I kept seeing myself for another seven years on TV with all the reruns. 

“Imagine watching yourself on TV during college years as a Mouseketeer. It was crazy.”