Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Ilene Woods - Voice Of Disney's Cinderella - 1929-2010




Pictures courtesy of Disney
Ilene Woods was an 18 year old singer on the radio in 1948 when 2 of her songwriter friends asked her to do them a favor. They had written a few songs for a Disney upcoming film, would she record a demo of them. She said "yes" and sang, 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boo', 'So This Is Love', and 'A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes'.
Not only did Walt Disney like the demo of the songs, he liked the voice singing them. He called her for an interview, they met and he offered her the job of Cinderella and the rest is Disney History.
The happiest years of her life was when she married Ed Shaughnessy, the former longtime drummer on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" and had two sons.
On July 1st, Ed made the announcement that his wife had died of causes related to Alzheimer's disease. Ilene was 81.
The person who gave us the 'Voice of Cinderella' has passed away but we always have the film to remember her. Thank you Ilene, for the magic of song.

2 comments:

Betty said...

Interesting. I never knew who she was, but I do remember her voice.

Looking to the Stars said...

Betty, her voice was magical wasn't it. I felt really sad with her passing but Mary Costa, who did the voice of Sleeping Beauty is still alive :)