Funeral services were pending Friday for actor Alan Young, best remembered for playing straight man Wilbur Post opposite a talking horse in the TV comedy “Mister Ed”.
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Mister Ed star Alan Young, who rose to prominence as the co-star of a talking horse in the famed 1961 sitcom Mr. Ed, died Thursday at the age of 96. He started early. After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, Young created a comedy radio show at the age of 17 called The Alan Young Show.
Young was born in England in 1919 as Angus Young and grew up in Scotland and Canada.
In addition to Mister Ed, Young was also known for voicing animated characters, which is how he spent almost all of his time in the later part of his career.
He went on to appear in a series of films, in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, including “Mr. Belvedere Goes to College”, “Gentlemen Marry Brunettes” and “The Time Machine”. He made many guest appearances on television after taking a long break after the end of “Mister Ed”. He stayed with the show through it’s entire six-season run. Elsewhere, Party of Five, ER, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
Young was also the voice of Scrooge McDuck in Disney’s “DuckTales” series. He also provided the voices for multiple characters on The Smurfs and played Hiram Flaversham in The Great Mouse Detective.
He was married three times – to Mary Anne Grimes, Virginia McCurdy and Mary Chipman – and had four children.
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The legendary actor passed away at the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Villa on Vitas Hospice with his children by his side.
