# So long, Wilburrrrrrrrrr. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272 "2016-05-21T02:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/1 "2016-05-21T02:07:48Z")
Alan Young, ‘Wilbur’ of _Mister Ed_, has died at the age of 96. > **[Alan Young, Two-Legged Star of 'Mister Ed,' Dies at 96](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/alan-young-two-legged-star-of-mister-ed-dies-221026890.html)** > > by Mike Barnes and Duane Byrge ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/2 "2016-05-21T02:14:18Z")
So, do Huey, Dewey, and Louie inherit Uncle Scrooge’s bucks? RIP Alan. He also starred in the classic George Pal film _The Time Machine_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/3 "2016-05-21T02:34:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > So, do Huey, Dewey, and Louie inherit Uncle Scrooge’s bucks? > > RIP Alan. He also starred in the classic George Pal film _The Time Machine_. He was \*in \*it, as were Whit Bissell, Sebastian Cabot, and Tom Helmore. However, the star was Rod Taylor, who played “George.” Alan actually played two characters: David Filby, George’s friend, and David’s son James; the former with a Scottish accent, and the latter with an English accent. RIP! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/4 "2016-05-21T02:39:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He was \*in \*it, as were Whit Bissell, Sebastian Cabot, and Tom Helmore. However, the star was Rod Taylor, who played “George.” > > Alan actually played two characters: David Filby, George’s friend, and David’s son James; the former with a Scottish accent, and the latter with an English accent. > > RIP! He also had a part in the re-make–42 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/5 "2016-05-21T02:57:59Z")
His last words were “A corpse is a corpse, of course, of course.” (Apologies to Alan Zweibel and [Saturday Night Live](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/78/78nupdate.phtml)) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/6 "2016-05-21T03:05:54Z")
♬ _A corpse is a corpse, of course, of course And no one can talk to a corpse of course. That is, of course, unless the corpse Is the famous Mister Dead_ ♬ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/7 "2016-05-21T03:14:02Z")
Remember\*\* this?\*\* > **[SATAN TAKING MR. ED ALONG FOR THE RIDE?](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-08-8602020267-story.html)** In the article I read in '86 (I think I still have it somewhere), they interviewed the song’s composer, Jay Livingston. He said the whole thing was “complete nonsense!” ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/8 "2016-05-21T05:28:48Z")
Interestingly enough, Alan Young had to be talked into starring in “Mr. Ed”. [They even shot a pilot with a different actor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTvQ3GCkZbw), but then Young relented and acted in a second pilot that sold. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/9 "2016-05-21T06:51:05Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Young relented and acted in a second pilot that sold. With Connie Hines, mmmmmmmmmmm! :o ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/10 "2016-05-21T09:14:27Z")
Alan Young was a gifted comedian. I don’t think Mr Ed would have worked with another actor. Alan somehow made the concept believable. I watched the pilot tonight on youtube. It holds up really well. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/11 "2016-05-21T13:03:54Z")
I don’t know what movie this was in. I came home one afternoon and turned on the TV. Turner Classic Movies. And there was Alan Young in a gorilla suit, sitting in a tree; he had the costume gorilla-head off and tucked under one arm, and he was singing “Ain’t Misbehaving.” So surreal that I wondered if I’d had some sort of head injury on the way home and was hallucinating. That’s what I thought of when I saw his name, and it’s what I’ll remember him for. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/12 "2016-05-21T14:34:47Z")
I assume the horse is no longer with us, either? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/13 "2016-05-21T14:40:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I assume the horse is no longer with us, either? Someone, somewhere, owns some items held together with glue. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/14 "2016-05-21T15:06:18Z")
RIP, Alan. I remember watching the show when it first came out. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/15 "2016-05-21T16:04:13Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I assume the horse is no longer with us, either? Bamboo Harvester (the horse, of course) was euthanized in 1970 at age 21. There was another horse, used for some still pictures, who lived until 1979 which sometimes confuses people. > **[Bamboo Harvester](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_Harvester)** > > Bamboo Harvester (1949–1970) was the American Saddlebred/part-Arabian horse that portrayed Mister Ed on the 1961–1966 comedy series of the same name. Foaled in 1949, the gelding was trained by Will Rogers' protégé, Les Hilton. He was born in the Los Angeles area but sources disagree as to whether his birthplace was in El Monte or at Harvester Farms in Chatsworth, California. > In 1968, two years after the cancellation of Mister Ed, at the age of 19, Bamboo began to suffer from a variety of age r... ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/16 "2016-05-21T18:04:09Z")
Did the voice of Scrooge McDuck in two episodes of Mickey Mouse (2015-2016) and Duck Tales Remastered (video game 2016) nice to know he was still active almost all the way to the end. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/17 "2016-05-21T18:09:59Z")
Gotta give him credit for doing the show. Not many actors would be willing to play second fiddle to an animal. It took some skill also, he was convincing as a guy actually talking to a horse. It was a fun show, even though Mr. Ed will be remembered more he was the guy that made it work. Good night Alan, thanks for the memories. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/18 "2016-05-21T18:38:53Z")
Mister Ed was only lipsynching?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-long-wilburrrrrrrrrr/755272/19 "2016-05-21T18:47:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Mister Ed was only lipsynching?! :eek: Yeah, the Ed voice was rotated between two guys named Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus.