Donald "Donnie" Roan Dunagan (born August 16, 1934) is an American former

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

and retired

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He is best known for portraying the young son of Baron Frankenstein in ''

Son of Frankenstein ''Son of Frankenstein'' is a 1939 American horror film that was directed by Rowland V. Lee and stars Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The film is the third in Universal Pictures' ''Frankenstein'' series and is the follow-up to the ...

'' and for providing the voice of young

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...

in ''

'' (1942).

Biography

Dunagan was born in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, but his family soon moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, where they struggled with poverty. There at the age of three-and-a-half he won a talent contest prize of $100. Spotted by a studio talent scout, the family moved to Hollywood, where Dunagan appeared in a series of films and soon became his family's main breadwinner. After he provided the voice for the young fawn in

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's ''

'', he retired from acting. By the age of 13, Dunagan was living in a boarding house and working as a lathe operator. In 1952, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. He became the Marines' youngest-ever drill instructor and served three tours in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, where he was wounded several times, before finally retiring in 1977 with the rank of

. For his service he received a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and three

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

s. Dunagan kept his acting career a secret while serving in the Marines but in 2004 he was located and exhaustively interviewed by horror film historian Tom Weaver in a special "Donnie Dunagan issue" of ''

Video Watchdog ''Video Watchdog'' was a bimonthly, digest size film magazine published from 1990 to 2017 by publisher/editor Tim Lucas and his wife, art director and co-publisher Donna Lucas. Although devoted chiefly to the horror, science fiction, and fantas ...

'' magazine. Dunagan is retired and is currently living in

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...

, with his wife.

Filmography

* '' Mother Carey's Chickens'' (1938) as Peter Carey (film debut) * ''

'' (1939) as Peter von Frankenstein * ''

The Forgotten Woman ''The Forgotten Woman'' is a 2008 Canadian documentary film directed by Dilip Mehta and written by Deepa Mehta. The film is about widows in India and was inspired by Deepa Mehta's 2005 Academy Award-nominated film on the same subject, ''Water''. ...

'' (1939) as Terry Kennedy Jr. * ''

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

'' (1939) as Baby Prince * ''

Vigil in the Night ''Vigil in the Night'' is a 1940 RKO Pictures drama film based on the 1939 serialized novel ''Vigil in the Night'' by A. J. Cronin. The film was produced and directed by George Stevens and stars Carole Lombard, Brian Aherne and Anne Shirley. Plo ...

'' (1940) as Tommy (uncredited) * ''

Meet the Chump ''Meet the Chump'' is a 1941 American film starring Hugh Herbert. Plot A man desperately attempts to avoid giving up the ten million dollar trust that he's been administering so well that there's barely any money left. Cast * Hugh Herbert as H ...

'' (1941) as Little Boy (uncredited) * ''

'' (1942) as Young Bambi (voice, final film role)

References

External links

* 1934 births Living people American male child actors American male voice actors American male film actors United States Marine Corps officers Male actors from Memphis, Tennessee People from San Angelo, Texas 20th-century American male actors United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Texas {{US-voice-actor-1930s-stub