Ilene Woods
| Ilene Woods | |
|---|---|
Woods 1960 Publicity Shot
|
|
| Born |
Jacqueline Ruth Woods May 5, 1929 Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| Died | July 1, 2010 (aged 81) Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) |
| Occupation | Voice actress, singer |
| Years active | 1941–1985 |
| Spouse(s) | Stephen Steck, Jr. (m. 1946–?; divorced) Ed Shaughnessy (m. 1963–2010; her death) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Disney Legend (2003) |
Jacqueline Ruth "Ilene" Woods (May 5, 1929 – July 1, 2010) was an American voice actress and singer. Woods was the original voice of the title character of the 12th Walt Disney animated classic Cinderella, for which she was named a Disney Legend in 2003.
Jacqueline Ruth Woods was born on May 5, 1929. Woods' mother worked behind the scenes of films, taking Woods with her. As a little girl, Woods dreamed about becoming a schoolteacher, but her mother planned to make her a star instead. Woods started acting at the age of two. At the age of 15, Woods was hired, along with Bob Johnstone, by Paul Whiteman to sing on his summer 1944 replacement show, "The Philco Hall of Fame" on the NBC Blue Network (which later became ABC Radio). The network quickly added her own radio program during that same summer, The Ilene Woods Show. The entire show was 15 minutes of music, broadcast three days per week. Many songwriters came on the show to present their music; this is how she became friends with Mack David and Jerry Livingston. She then moved to California.
In 1948, two of her songwriter friends, Mack David and Jerry Livingston, called Woods to record "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes", and "So This is Love". Soon, the songs were presented to Walt Disney so that they could be used in the English version of Cinderella. Walt Disney heard the demo recordings, and two days later asked Ilene to voice the star role of Cinderella. She gladly accepted the role, surprised that she had won against more than 300 others who had auditioned. She said in an interview for Classicfilm, "Seeing it [the film] in its new form was breathtaking for me. It's so beautiful. The color is magnificent, it just took my breath away, it was so wonderful. I sort of forget when I'm watching the movie that I had anything to do with it. Yet, it brings back so many beautiful memories of working with the wonderful artists and working with Walt mostly. It brings back wonderful, wonderful memories." To promote Cinderella, Woods voiced Snow White in the 1949 Disney audiobook release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Woods sang for President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his home in Hyde Park. She also sang at the White House for President Truman, after singing for the soldiers and sailors of war. Woods retired from show business in 1972, but she continued to appear at occasional autograph shows.
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