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Battle of the Planets Voice Actor Alan Young Passes Away

Screen actor and voice actor Alan Young passed away due to natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Home retirement community in Los Angeles on Thursday. He was 96. Young's prolific career ranged from Hollywood science-fiction films such as The Time Machine (1960) to television projects such as his own Emmy award-winning variety series, The Alan Young Show.

However, he is arguably best remembered for roles seen (or heard) by generations of children. He played the human Wilbur opposite a talking horse for six seasons of Mister Ed from 1961 to 1966. He then voiced both the robot 7-Zark-7 and the young hero Keyop (G-4) in Sandy Frank's Battle of the Planets dub of the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman television anime in 1978. He also voiced Scrooge McDuck since the 1970s in such Disney works as Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), DuckTales (1987-1990), and various Kingdom Hearts games.

Young was born in November 1919 in Northumberland, England, and he moved to Edinburgh and then near Vancouver when he was a child. After he got his own radio show on CBC he served in the Canadian navy and army during World War II. He then made his film debut in Margie in 1946.

Thanks to Grace Bellerby and Geoffrey Oliver for the news tip.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter (Mike Barnes and Duane Byrge)