My Take
Bobby Driscoll breaks my heart every time I think about him. This kid from Cedar Rapids, Iowa was genuinely one of the most talented child actors Hollywood ever produced — he carried Disney films like Treasure Island and So Dear to My Heart with real presence, not just cute-kid charm. Winning the Academy Juvenile Award in 1950 felt like the world was at his feet. But Disney dropped him when he aged out of boyhood roles, and the industry had nothing to offer the grown-up version of a face it once adored. He drifted, struggled, and died in 1968 at just 31, found anonymously in a New York City tenement. He was the original voice of Peter Pan — the boy who never grew up — and the cruelty of that irony still stings.
Overview
Robert Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – c. March 30, 1968) was an American actor who performed on film and television from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period: Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1949), and Treasure Island (1950), as well as RKO's The Window (1949).
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Bobby Driscoll
- Name (Japanese)
- ボビー・ドリスコール
- Reading
- ぼびー・どりすこーる
- Born
- March 3, 1937 – March 30, 1968
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Ox
- Origin
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / stage actor / television actor / film actor / voice actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- University High School
- University
- University High School
Awards & achievements
- 1950 Academy Juvenile Award
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Academy Honorary Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.