Fulton Burley (June 12, 1922 – May 7, 2007) was a Canadian performer, most widely known for his work in

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

. Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and raised in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, Canada, Fulton came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1943 after a telephone audition landed him the singing lead in Billy Rose's '' Diamond Horseshoe Revue'' on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. He later marveled at his "Irish" luck saying, "The peculiar thing is I was at the Golden Horseshoe for 25 years, and I had started y professional careerat the Diamond Horseshoe." At age 7, he performed in church weddings, and by 14, on radio in

, where he worked three mornings a week before school. He, also, went on to sing with the

Windsor Symphony Orchestra The Windsor Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra located in Windsor, Ontario. The orchestra performs in Southwestern Ontario, playing both classical and popular music. History The Windsor Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1941, originally ...

. Fulton attended

J. C. Patterson Collegiate Institute J.C. Patterson Collegiate Institute (also known as Patterson) was a public secondary school located in downtown Windsor from 1854 until 1973. History The school began as a grammar school in 1854 and was turned into a high school in 1871 and was ...

in Windsor, followed by

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, where he studied law with a minor in music. Ultimately, he dropped his law studies to pursue a career in entertainment and eventually won a contract with

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

(MGM), where he appeared as a supporting actor in films such as "Without Love" with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and "Homecoming" with Clark Gable and Lana Turner. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served as a member of the 40th Special Services Division, under the command of actor

Melvyn Douglas Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''Ninotchka ...

, traveling to China, Burma and India. After the War, Fulton spent several years touring the United States with a number of musical productions, during which he developed his keen instinct for light comedy and a legendary repertoire of jokes. In 1962, he was playing at the Hacienda Hotel in Las Vegas when he received a call from his pal

Wally Boag Wallace Vincent Boag (September 13, 1920 – June 3, 2011) was an American performer known for his starring role in Disney's long-running stage show the '' Golden Horseshoe Revue''. Biography Boag was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1920 to Evelyn ...

, with whom he had worked as a contract player at MGM. Wally, who had been performing in the

Golden Horseshoe Revue The Golden Horseshoe Saloon (referred to as Pecos Bill's Golden Horseshoe Saloon during construction) is a restaurant and attraction at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California in the United States. It opened in 1955 with several other original att ...

for seven years, explained that one of his fellow cast members had become seriously ill and urged Fulton to take over the role. Fulton did, and subsequently, lit up the stage with his jovial nature and lilting brogue. In the

Enchanted Tiki Room Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort and in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and previously in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. First opened on June 23, 1963 at the Disneyl ...

, Fulton can be heard as the voice of the Irish parrot, Michael. Later, he entertained

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

fans across the country, when he traveled on special tours promoting such films as the animated classic ''Cinderella'', which was re-released on the big screen in 1981. After a quarter-of-a century with The Walt Disney Company, Fulton retired from the Golden Horseshoe Revue in 1987. In 1995, he was honored as a Disney Legend for his work at Disneyland Attractions. In 1997, reprised his role for

The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management) ''The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management)'' was an attraction located in the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was an updated version of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which was previously known in the Florida ...

at Magic Kingdom along with

and

Thurl Ravenscroft Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was al ...

. Burley died from heart failure on May 7, 2007 at Sunrise Assisted Living at La Costa in Carlsbad,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He was 84.

References

;Bibliography * *

External links

Disney Legends: Fulton Burley
*
Article on the death of Burley

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burley, Fulton 1922 births 2007 deaths Canadian male film actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian male radio actors Canadian male stage actors Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players Wayne State University alumni 20th-century Canadian comedians United States Army personnel of World War II Canadian emigrants to the United States