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Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor. He is best known for the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, whose distinctive voice he provided for 50 years. He was born in the rural community of Watonga, Oklahoma, and a street in that town is named in his honor. In 1993, he was posthumously made a Disney Legend for his contributions to Walt Disney films. He was also original voice for Tom in Tom & Jerry.

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Beginning his career[]

Nash made a name for himself in the late 1920s as an impressionist for KHJ, a Los Angeles radio station, on their show The Merrymakers. He was later employed by the Adohr Milk Company for publicity purposes. Dubbed "Whistling Clarence, the Adohr Bird Man", Nash rode the streets with a team of miniature horses and gave treats to the children. In 1932, Nash happened by the Disney Studio with his team of horses and decided to leave a copy of his Adohr publicity sheet with the receptionist. As it turns out, his name was recognized from a reprise appearance on The Merrymakers a few days before and Walt Disney himself had been impressed by Nash's vocal skills. He was asked to go to the Disney Studio for an informal audition.

Donald Duck[]

Nash went through several of his voices and Walt Disney happened by when Nash gave his impersonation of a family of ducks. Disney declared Nash perfect for the role of a talking duck in their upcoming animated short The Wise Little Hen. The duck, of course, was Donald Duck, who Nash went on to voice for over 50 years.

Donald Duck went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world and a great part of this was due to Nash's distinctive voice. It may well be one of the most recognizable character voices in history. The voice is distinctive both for its duck-like quality and the fact that it is often very difficult for anybody to understand, especially when Donald flew into a rage (which happened fairly often). To keep Donald's voice consistent throughout the world, Nash dubbed Donald's voice into all the foreign languages that the Disney shorts were translated into (with the aid of the phonetic alphabet), meaning that Donald retained his same level of incoherency all across the globe. Mad magazine, in its 1950s comic-strip style satire of Disney characters ("Mickey Rodent" in issue #19), featured a "translation" of "Darnold" Duck's "quacky, incomprehensible" voice.

Nash's last feature films as the voice of Donald was in Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983 and in Donald Duck's 50th Birthday in 1984, although he continued to provide Donald's voice for commercials, promos and other miscellaneous material until his death in 1985.

Other Characters[]

In addition to Donald's voice, Nash also voiced Daisy Duck (in her earliest appearances, when she was little more than a female version of Donald), as well as Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. He also voiced Figaro, Rough House Statue, and Donkeys in Pinocchio, P.J. in 'Bellboy Donald', Brutus & Nero in The Rescuers, Ichabod's Horse in The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad, and for a bullfrog in Bambi. Nash also provided the meows of Figaro the kitten in a handful of shorts and briefly voiced Jiminy Cricket after the death of Cliff Edwards in 1971. Nash made some cat noises for Sylvester Cat from 2 Looney Tunes cartoons Tugboat Granny and Cat's Paw. He did some dog sounds in One Hundred and One Dalmatians and vocal sounds for Shere Khan in The Jungle Book and the Bear in The Fox and The Hound. He also voiced Mickey Mouse in 'The Dognapper' and Pluto in 'Mickey's Surprise Party'. Several Tom and Jerry cartoons directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera featured a third main character, a duckling named Quacker; Hanna and Barbera would adapt Little Quacker into Yakky Doodle for television. As with most Hanna-Barbera productions, these characters used celebrity impersonations, in these cases an impersonation of Clarence Nash's Donald Duck voice. In these cases, Red Coffee and Jimmy Weldon provided the respective voices, although because both were so similar to Nash's voice they are often mistakenly attributed to Nash.

Later years[]

When Disney shut down their shorts department in 1962, Nash continued to voice Donald in various projects over the next two decades.

Nash's performance as Donald in Mickey Christmas Carol made Donald the only character in that film to be voiced by his original voice actor.

In the late 1970s, Nash was known for often taking walks in the neighborhood around Fremont Elementary School in Glendale, California, entertaining children with his Donald Duck voice.

Despite lending his voice to hundreds of films, shorts and television programs, Nash made few appearances on camera, such as when he was a contestant in a 1954 episode of What's My Line, as a guest in a 1976 episode of The Mike Douglas Show and in a cameo in the 1984 TV special Donald Duck's 50th Birthday.

In 1985, Nash was interviewed for the Donald Duck Story on the VHS Donald's Bee Pictures and told a story of how he copied how his pet goats sounded at his farm before getting hired as the voice of Donald. He explained the rivals Donald Duck had including Spike the Bee and of how the bee foiled Donald and stung him. This would be his last Disney interview before his passing.

Death[]

Clarence Nash died of leukemia in 1985 at the age of 80 and was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California. The tombstone of the grave he now shares with his wife Margaret Nash (who died in 1993) depicts a carving of Donald and Daisy Duck holding hands.

Successor[]

After Nash's death, Donald's voice was taken up by Disney animator Tony Anselmo, who was trained by Nash personally, probably because Nash knew that one day, he needed to be replaced.

Later characters whose voices owe considerable credit to Nash's duck voice have been voiced by actors such as Jimmy Weldon, Frank Welker, Sam Kwasman, Steve Blum, Daniel Ross, Luba Goy, and Red Coffey. The most prominent of these is Weldon's Yakky Doodle for Hanna-Barbera. Anselmo is also among the many voiceover artists to have also voiced Huey, Dewey, and Louie over the years.

Sound clips for the new characters[]

Here are the sound clips of Clarence imitating Donald for the new T.V. shows, movies, video games, and cartoon shorts.

Original characters[]

Donald

Donald Duck (1934-1985)

Char 29570 thumb

Daisy Duck (1940)

HDL 2

Huey, Dewey, & Louie (1938-1967)

Donnaduck

Donna Duck (1937)

Tve79864-19530110-694

Tom (1940-1967)

Figaro the little kitten

Figaro (Pinocchio; shorts)

Peter Pig

Peter Pig

Louie the Mountain Lion

Louie the Mountain Lion

Tve31611-19360530-1006

Mickey Mouse (The Dognapper)

Tve27383-19510518-2280

Pluto (Mickey's Surprise Party)

Pete Jr.

P.J.

Tve80304-19541015-2244

Lambert Lion

Ajax the gorilla

Ajax the Gorilla (working with Jimmy MacDonald)

Goofy in The Spirit of Mickey

Goofy (vocal effects)

Sylvester

Sylvester Cat (cat noises)

Butch cat

Butch (The Alley Cat)

Toodles

Toodles Galore (The Alley Cat)

Rover Boy

Rover Boy (Dude Duck)

Wdac-v1-05

Giant Spider (Gulliver Mickey)

Horse

Ichabod's Horse

Bullfrog (Bambi)

Bullfrog

Joe Cat

Joe Cat (Ventriloquist Cat)

Roughhouse Statue

Rough House Statue (Pinocchio)

Pinocchio-donkeys

Donkeys (Pinocchio)

Iceracinderella0203

Birds (Cinderella)

Dog-barks-Twilight-bark-out-of-window

Dogs

Bat (Flying Mouse)

Bat (The Flying Mouse)

Cat Judge

Cat Judge (Pluto's Judgement Day)

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress

Robins (Carousel of Progress)

Shere khan

Shere Khan (vocal effects)

ALLIGATORS

Brutus & Nero the Crocodiles

Bear

Bear

Legssparrow

Legs Sparrow (Who Killed Cock Robin?)

Joeyhippo

Joey Hippo (Elmer Elephant)

Tootsie

Tootsie the Penguin (Donald's Penguin)

Mad Jack

Mad Jack (Donkey Kong 64)

124-008gayducks

Ducks (Chicken Little)

New characters[]

Scrooge mcduck ducktales

Scrooge McDuck (duck sounds)

Darkwing Duck

Darkwing Duck (duck sounds)

Darnold Duck (New Arthur Character) 2

Darnold Duck (version of Donald Duck)

Mickey Rodent (New Arthur Character)

Mickey Rodent (version of Donald Duck)

Minnie Pig (new Arthur character)

Minnie Pig (version of Donald Duck)

Goony Dawg (New Arthur Character)

Goony Dawg (version of Donald Duck)

Plutted Pup (New Arthur Character)

Plutted Pup (duck noises)

Dora Winifred Read 2

Dora Winifred Read (version of Donald Duck)

Francine 2

Francine Alice Frensky (version of Donald Duck)

Muffy7

Muffy Alice Crosswire (version of Donald Duck)

Sue Ellen

Sue Ellen Armstrong (version of Donald Duck)

Vicita Molina

Vicita Molina (version of Donald Duck)

Fern Walters

Fern Walters (imitating Donald Duck)

Ladonna3

Ladonna Compson (imitating Donald Duck)

Bud Compson

Bud Compson (imitating Donald Duck)

Prunella

Prunella Deegan (imitating Donald Duck)

Marina

Marina (imitating Donald Duck)

BSS162

Binky Barnes (version of Donald Duck)

FK31

Alan "Brain" Powers (imitating Donald Duck)

Molly 4

Molly MacDonald (version of Donald Duck)

Catherine Frensky

Catherine Frensky (version of Donald Duck)

George

George Lundgren (imitating Donald Duck)

Nadine3

Nadine (imitating Donald Duck)

Slink

Slink (version of Donald Duck)

Arthur3

Arthur Read (imitating Donald Duck)

Quack William-Cat 2

Quack William-Cat (duck noises)

Manfred Frank

Manfred Frank (roaring, snarling, & growling)

Los Dedos

Los Dedos (dog noises)

Maria 7

Maria Pappas (duck noises)

The Buster Report 77

Buster Baxter (duck noises)

Tibbles2

Timmy & Tommy Tibbles (version of Donald Duck)

Uaica

Uaica (imitating Donald Duck)

Francine-Look-Alike - Colleen

Colleen (imitating Donald Duck)

Muffy-Look-Alike - Buffy

Buffy (imitating Donald Duck)

Bradley Bear

Bradley Bear (bear noises)

Arthur animals

Animals from Marc Brown's Arthur

Eeyore 3

Eeyore (donkey noises)

Skullasaurus Pooh

Skullasaurus

Lola-catdog-6

Lola (duck noises)

Catdog0089

CatDog (creature noises)

Rowdy the Cat

Rowdy the Cat (imitating Donald Duck)

Aardvark by super marcos 96-d7joiln

Blue Aardvark (animal noises/imitating Donald Duck)

Eli the Elephant

Eli the Elephant (version of Donald Duck)

Hakuna matata 1456

Timon & Pumbaa (animal noises/imitating Donald Duck)

Lor2

Lor McQuarrie (version of Donald Duck)

PPG(IIIIIII)

Blossom, Bubbles, & Buttercup (duck noises)

RRB(II)

Brick, Boomer, & Butch (duck noises)

Princess Morbucks

Princess Morbucks (duck noises)

Numbuh 5-0

Numbuh 5 (version of Donald Duck)

Numbuh 3

Numbuh 3 (version of Donald Duck)

Numbuh 4

Numbuh 4 (version of Donald Duck)

Vlcsnap-2015-05-25-10h43m03s125

Mandy (version of Donald Duck)

Cree-lincoln-codename-kids-next-door-the-movie-operation-zero-1

Cree Lincoln (version of Donald Duck)

Angelica-pickles

Angelica Pickles (version of Donald Duck)

Marie Kanker2

Marie Kanker (version of Donald Duck)

Eddy

Eddy (version of Donald Duck)

Helga3

Helga (animal noises/version of Donald Duck)

Rhonda-wellington-lloyd-hey-arnold-the-movie-1

Rhonda (version of Donald Duck)

Phoebe

Phoebe (version of Donald Duck)

Arnold-hey-arnold-22

Arnold (version of Donald Duck)

Char 111565

Horrid Henry (version of Donald Duck)

Beebe 2

Beebe Bluff (version of Donald Duck)

Porkchop-doug-2

Porkchop (dog noises)

Cat

Cat (cat noises)

Duck

Duck (duck noises)

Kermit-the-frog-sesame-street-0

Kermit the Frog (frog noises)

Ernie-Bert

Ernie & Bert (duck noises)

7481e77a07277d5293c8580c2edead2f--olive

Olive Oyl (imitating Donald Duck)

AudreyLulu

Little Audrey (imitating Donald Duck) & Little Lulu (imitating Donald Duck)

Spongebob SquarePants

SpongeBob Squarepants (imitating Donald Duck)

Jenny Wakeman (Labor Day)

Jenny Wakeman/XJ9 (animal noises/imitating Donald Duck)

Linus, Charlie, & Lucy

Charlie Brown (imitating Donald Duck), Linus Van Pelt (imitating Donald Duck), & Lucy Van Pelt (imitating Donald Duck)

Mac Foster Unnamed 29

Mac Foster (duck noises)

Bessie-higgenbottom-8140475-normal

Bessie Higgenbottom (imitating Donald Duck)

Portia Gibbons

Portia Gibbons (version of Donald Duck)

Mary Frances Gibbons S1

Mary Frances Gibbons (version of Donald Duck)

Neddie

Neddie Hugson (imitating Donald Duck)

Dot Hugson

Dot Hugson (imitating Donald Duck)

Harry Potter

Harry Potter (animal noises & imitating Donald Duck)

Dash 1-0

Dash (imitating Donald Duck)

Dot 1-0

Dot (imitating Donald Duck)

Mayor Pelican

Mayor Pelican (squawking)

Quacker The Duck

Little Quacker (version of Donald Duck)

Yakky Doodle

Yakky Doodle (version of Donald Duck)

3Untitled-1

Green Duck

Blue Duck

Blue Duck

Black Duck

Black Duck

Video[]

Donald_stem_clarence_Nash

Donald stem clarence Nash

Tony_Anselmo,_Clarence_Nash,_&_Wayne_Allwine_at_Donald_Duck's_50th_Birthday_Party

Tony Anselmo, Clarence Nash, & Wayne Allwine at Donald Duck's 50th Birthday Party

Clarence_Nash's_duck_noises

Clarence Nash's duck noises

Clarence_or_Donald_says_I'm_Not_A_Goose

Clarence or Donald says I'm Not A Goose

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