It's hard to imagine, but Jimmie Dodd, head Mouseketeer of Walt Disney's "Mickey Mouse Club" would have turned 108 years old today. In honor of Jimmie - who was remembered so fondly by Annette... and all the other Mouseketeers - we're posting an excerpt from a magazine article published in June, 1958 that tells a little more about the man behind the friendly smile and Mouseguitar. Enjoy!
Jimmie wears a big smile as he waves from the group of little Mouseketeers and again as he steps from his mobile dressing room. The dressing room and the Mouseketeers are two big enthusiasms of his.
He's not only a young man of many talents; songwriter, singer, musician, dancer and actor, he's also and always, a happy young man.
That he enjoys every minute of his work is evident in everything he does. His irrepressible spirit spreads to all around him.
"I just like life and people," says Jimmie. "I'd be unhappy if I wasn't working. I want to contribute something towards the happiness of people."
He's always found a way to make his contribution. A heart condition kept him out of the armed forces, but he and his brunette wife, Ruth, a dancer, were tireless travelers with USO shows throughout the war.
Dodd has written songs all his life. Says, "I've written about 500 but not all were published." He wrote "Mamie" for a Republican rally in Madison Square Garden in 1952. Some other hits are "Rosemary", "Amarillo", "I Love Girls", "Nashville Blues" and "He Was There." The last was written by a deeply religious Jimmie after an illness which almost took his life in 1951.
He joined the Disney staff in 1955 as a composer and lyric writer. Soon his other talents became known...including his ability to be friends with children...and Disney decided to give him the big chances as leader of the Mouseketeers' song-and-dance group.
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