Russi Taylor, the actor who voiced Disney‘s Minnie Mouse for more than three decades, has died aged 75.
A statement from the Walt Disney Company announced that Ms Taylor had died in Glendale, California on Friday.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 4 May 1944, Ms Taylor said she met Walt Disney – who first voiced Mickey and Minnie – when visiting Disneyland as a child.
“At one point during our chat, he asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up, and I said, ‘I want to work for you!’ So he said, ‘Okay!’ And now I do!,” Ms Taylor said.
She was picked from 200 candidates to play Minnie after an audition in 1986, and would go on to voice the character in animated TV series, films and theme park attractions.
She also voiced roles in The Simpsons and other classic animated series, including The Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Kim Possible.
Her other Disney voices included Nurse Mouse in The Rescuers Down Under, as well as Donald’s mischievous nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, and their friend Webbigail Vanderquack in the original DuckTales animated series.
She married Wayne Allwine, who was the voice of her character’s partner Mickey Mouse, in 1991. They remained “as inseparable as their animated counterparts until Wayne’s death”, Disney said.
Bob Iger, Disney’s chairman and chief executive, paid tribute to Ms Taylor in a statement released on 25 July.
“For more than 30 years, Minnie and Russi worked together to entertain millions around the world – a partnership that made Minnie a global icon and Russi a Disney Legend beloved by fans everywhere,” he said.
“We take comfort in the knowledge that her work will continue to entertain and inspire for generations to come.”
“You have to bring yourself to a character,” Ms Taylor once observed. “But because of this particular character, she actually enhances who I am, she really does. In a sense Minnie makes me better than I was before because there’s a lot to live up to.”
“I never wanted to be famous,” she added. “The characters I do are famous, and that’s fine for me.”
