Disney legend Russi Taylor, best known as the official voice of the character Minnie Mouse, passed away in Glendale, California Friday at the age of 75.
Taylor voiced Minnie Mouse in projects ranging from animated shorts, television, theme park experiences, and big-screen films.
“Minnie Mouse lost her voice with the passing of Russi Taylor,” The Walt Disney Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said in a statement. “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. We’re so grateful for Russi’s talent as well as the tremendous spirit and great joy she brought to everything she did. It was a privilege to have known her and an honor to have worked with her, and we take comfort in the knowledge that her work will continue to entertain and inspire for generations to come. Russi will be sorely missed and our hearts go out to her family and friends, along with our deepest condolences.”
Taylor was born on May 4, 1944, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She always had big dreams of working for Disney ever since she was a young child, saying, “When I was a little girl, I was with my mom and my brother, and it was late at night at Disneyland. We had just come off the Mark Twain Riverboat and were getting some popcorn. I looked over and saw Walt sitting on a bench, so we introduced ourselves and shared our popcorn with him. 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!”
She would later go on to beat out 200 other contenders for the role of Minnie Mouse in 1986. Some of the films she appeared in as Minnie Mouse include Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Runaway Brain, Get a Horse!, and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, with television appearances in Mickey MouseWorks, House of Mouse, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, and 2013's award-winning Disney short series, Mickey Mouse.
“Russi was as close as family; as wonderful, funny, and sweet as Minnie Mouse, and as talented yet humble as you would expect,” Goofy voice actor and longtime friend Bill Farmer said. “I will deeply and dearly miss her.”
“Russi Taylor embodied the character of Minnie Mouse,” Senior Vice President of Disney Character Voices Rick Dempsey said of Taylor. “She truly was one of the kindest, most gracious, upbeat, and loving people I have ever had the privilege to work with and to count as a friend. Anytime anyone met Russi, their day would always get just a little bit brighter. Not only was she amazingly talented and gifted, but she had a true desire to make the world a better place with the gifts she was blessed with. The world has a lost a real treasure. She will truly be missed, but her voice will live on.”
“I never wanted to be famous,” she once said. “The characters I do are famous, and that’s fine for me.”
(via The Walt Disney Company)