Popular American character actor of amusing appearance and voice whose long career led from dozens of highly enjoyable onscreen performances to world-wide familiarity as the voice of numerous Walt Disney animated films. Born in the American Deep South to grocer Sterling P. Holloway Sr. and Rebecca Boothby Holloway, he had a younger brother, Boothby. Holloway spent his early years as an actor playing comic juveniles on the stage. His bushy reddish-blond hair and trademark near-falsetto voice made him a natural for sound pictures, and he acted in scores of talkies, although he had made his picture debut in silents. His physical image and voice relegated him almost exclusively to comic roles, but in 1945, director 'Lewis Milestone' , and later in television series of his own. His later work as the voice of numerous characters in Disney cartoons brought him new audiences and many fans, especially for his voicing of beloved Winnie the Pooh. He died in 1992.
Holloway was officially named a Disney Legend in 1991.
He was an avid art collector.
Had major roles in two different film adaptations of "Alice in Wonderland." In Paramounts 1933 version ( Alice in Wonderland ) he played the Frog. In Disneys 1951 animated version ( Alice in Wonderland ) he provided the voice of the Cheshire Cat.
His big break came in 1925 when he introduced Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart s first hit song, "Manhattan," in the Broadway play "Garrick Gaieties".
Enlisted in the U.S. Army on 19 July 1942. Height and weight given as 5 9" and 124 lb.
Holloway grew up at 301 S. College St. in Cedartown, GA. The street which formed the corner on which Holloways house was located is now known as Sterling Holloway Pl.
Died on the 29th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination.
Drafted by the Army in 1942 and served with the Special Services. While there he helped develop a military-themed show called "Hey Rookie" which ran for nine months in Los Angeles and profited $350,000 for the Army Relief Fund.
Worked on a few Will Rogers movies and was injured in a couple of them. Once a shelf loaded with objects fell on his head after Rogers lassoed the prop and pulled it out of place; once a gun that Holloway was supposed to fire in a scene accidentally exploded in his hand.
Turned down a contract with Louis B. Mayer at MGM because he didnt want to be a star.
Was associated for a time with the Pasadena Playhouse, and took part in a musical comedy "Hullabaloo" while there in 1931. Somebody saw him in the show and he was cast in Blonde Venus (1932) starring Marlene Dietrich.
A director once told him he was "too repulsive" for the screen and he stopped making movies for nearly five years. Following the stock market crash of 1929, the money factor eventually drew him back to making sound pictures.
Introduced the song standard "Mountain Greenery" along with Bobbie Perkins in "The Garrick Gaities" in 1926.
In his late teens he toured with a stock company of "The Shepherd of the Hills".
Was enrolled with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York at the age of 15.
Educated at the Georgia Military Academy and performed in school plays while there.
According to Joe Collura in a full-length article/interview on Sterling in "Classic Images," Sterling was the distant relative of Lady Penelope Boothby, an English stage actress, who was immortalized on canvas by artist Sir Joshua Reynolds.
His father, who was a grocer, was also the mayor of his birthplace, Cedartown, GA, for a time in 1912.
Although he never married, he did adopt a son named Richard Holloway, who survived him when he died in 1992.
In 1946 and 1947 he sang and acted in five different Gene Autry westerns (four of them in 1947), twice playing a character named "Droopy". His characters were usually part of the comic relief inherent in Autrys westerns, almost a second sidekick.
If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there.
I came to Hollywood at a bad time. The movies were in a state of,turmoil. Sound was coming in and silents were going out. Nobody thought,I was suitable for talkies.
And what I want to do most is theater. .
