Mike Douglas (1925-2006)
Voice of Prince Charming Dies at 81
Aug 14, 2006 Dominic von Riedemann
(Source: Big Cartoon Database)
Mike Douglas, the Irish tenor who sang "So This Is Love" in Walt Disney's 1950 animated hit Cinderella, died Friday morning on his 81st birthday. He had been hospitalized after becoming dehydrated on a golf course.
Douglas, a former big-band singer, also hosted The Mike Douglas Show from 1961 to 1982. It was marketed as a talk show, but Douglas preferred to think of it as "a music show, with a whole lot of talk and laughter in between numbers."
Over the years, Douglas' guests included singers, actors, comedians, presidents, and a 2-year-old golfer named Tiger Woods. On seeing the toddler nail a hole-in-one, fellow guest Bob Hope commented, "I don't know what kind of drugs they've got this kid on, but I want some."
Born Michael Delaney Dowd on August 11, 1925, Douglas started as a night-club singer while still in his teens. After World War II, where he served on a munitions ship, he became a featured performer on radio show Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, which later moved to TV. It was there that he changed his name to Michael Douglas. Walt Disney heard Douglas on the show, and asked him to provide the singing voice for Prince Charming in Cinderella.
When rock n' roll started putting jazz vocalists out of work, Douglas became a talk show host. He started The Mike Douglas Show in 1961 and continued it until his retirement in 1982. He rarely appeared in public, except for when he made 3 appearances on The Rosie O'Donnell Show from 1996 to 1999.
In 1990, he successfully battled prostate cancer.
Mike Douglas is survived by his wife Genevieve, and three daughters: Kelly Anne and twins Michelle and Christine. Douglas also had a brother, Robert, and a sister, Helen.
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