# Alan Young
**Alan Young** (born [Angus Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/angus-young); 19 November 1919 – 19 or 20 May 2016) was a British-born comedic actor best known for playing Wilbur Post, the owner and only confidant of a talking horse, on the television sitcom *Mister Ed*, and for voicing Disney's Scrooge McDuck in cartoons from 1983 into the 2010s. He won an Emmy Award as best actor for his own 1950s comedy-variety series before achieving lasting fame on *Mister Ed*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Angus Young, 19 November 1919, North Shields, Northumberland, England; raised in Scotland and West Vancouver, British Columbia[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [2](https://walkoffame.com/alan-young/) |
| Signature role | Wilbur Post on *Mister Ed*, 1961–1966, opposite a talking palomino voiced by Allan "Rocky" Lane[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/alan-young) |
| Emmy | Best Actor, 1951, for *The Alan Young Show*; the program also won best variety series[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/alan-young) |
| Scrooge McDuck | Voiced the character in *Mickey's Christmas Carol* (1983) and 65 episodes of *DuckTales* (1987), using a Scottish accent[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary) |
| Films | *Margie* (1946, debut), *Tom Thumb* (1958), *The Time Machine* (1960, as David Filby), *Beverly Hills Cop III* (1994), and the 2002 *Time Machine* remake[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0949241/bio/) |
| Died | May 19, 2016 (per most obituaries; some sources give May 20), aged 96, at the Motion Picture & Television Home in Woodland Hills, California[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary) • [6](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young) |
## Early life and radio
Young was born into a Scottish family in the northern English town of North Shields. When he was a toddler the family moved to Edinburgh, and they later settled in West Vancouver, British Columbia, when he was six years old.[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [2](https://walkoffame.com/alan-young/) Bedridden as a child because of severe asthma, he came to love radio.[2](https://walkoffame.com/alan-young/) He began performing on Vancouver radio in his early teens, doing impersonations on a Saturday night program, and in early 1937 joined the staff of the station CJOR as assistant to program director Dick Diespecker.[7](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/young-alan/) At 17 he was writing and performing on a [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation](https://www.edgepedia.org/canadian-broadcasting-corporation) radio comedy-variety program.[8](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0521-alan-young-20160520-snap-story.html)
He changed his name from Angus to Alan; one account says American listeners kept mishearing "Angus" as "Agnus," another that he adopted it on moving to Toronto in 1942 because audiences expected a comic named Angus to perform only in Scottish dialect.[7](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/young-alan/) By the summer of 1942 his 10-minute comedy spot on the CBC variety program *Stag Party* had expanded to fill the show.[7](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/young-alan/) He moved to New York in 1944 as a summer replacement for [Eddie Cantor](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-cantor) and then carried his own program, *The Alan Young Show*, on American network radio.[7](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/young-alan/)
**Television and films.** Young brought the show to television in 1950. In 1951 the program won the Emmy Award for best variety show and Young was named best actor.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/alan-young) [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) hailed his gentle comedy, calling him "the Charlie Chaplin of television."[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) His film debut came in *Margie* (1946), followed by *Mr. Belvedere Goes to College*, *Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick* (1952), *Gentlemen Marry Brunettes* (1955), and George Pal's *Tom Thumb* (1958).[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary) His favorite film role was David Filby, the Scottish-accented best friend of [Rod Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/rod-taylor)'s time traveler in *[The Time Machine](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-time-machine-1960-film)* (1960); at 40 he also played the character's 18-year-old son.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary) He later had a small role in the 2002 remake, making him, by IMDb's account, the only actor to appear in both versions.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0949241/bio/)
## Mister Ed
Young was on a career downswing when he was cast as Wilbur Post, the suburban architect who owns a talking palomino.[8](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0521-alan-young-20160520-snap-story.html) Comedian-producer George Burns, who had already financed a failed *Mister Ed* pilot with another actor, recommended Young with the remark that he looked like the kind of guy a horse would talk to; the show's producer Arthur Lubin said much the same.[8](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0521-alan-young-20160520-snap-story.html) • [6](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young)
The premise was simple: [Mister Ed](https://www.edgepedia.org/mister-ed) spoke only to Wilbur, generating the running gag of Wilbur explaining to others why he was talking to a horse.[9](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/news/youve-never-heard-of-a-talking-horse-50-years-of-mister-ed) The horse's deep voice was supplied by the former Western star Allan "Rocky" Lane, who declined on-screen credit because the credits claimed Ed played himself and young viewers believed it; Lane instead received a raise.[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [10](https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/classic-tv/the-real-truth-behind-mister-ed-actor-alan-young) In performance, each conversation was a four-way collaboration between Young, the horse Bamboo Harvester, trainer Lester Hilton, and Lane's voice.[11](https://www.avclub.com/mister-ed-beat-a-pair-of-sitcom-trends-by-a-nose-1798282826)
The series' broadcast history is reported differently by sources. The Los Angeles Times says it began as a syndicated series in January 1961 and moved to CBS that fall for a four-year run; [CBS News](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-news) says that after six months in syndication it moved to ABC in October 1961 and lasted four seasons; the Television Academy dates it on CBS from 1961 to 1966.[8](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0521-alan-young-20160520-snap-story.html) • [1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/alan-young) Critics initially panned the show, but viewers liked it and it did well in the ratings, and it helped open the way for a wave of 1960s fantasy sitcoms including *My Favorite Martian*, *Bewitched*, *The Addams Family*, and *The Munsters*.[6](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young) The show found later audiences through cable syndication and video releases.[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/)
## Voice acting and later career
**A second career in cartoons.** From the 1980s Young worked largely as a voice performer. He became the voice of [Scrooge McDuck](https://www.edgepedia.org/scrooge-mcduck), Donald Duck's miserly billionaire uncle, beginning with *Mickey's Christmas Carol* (1983) and continuing through the series *DuckTales* from 1987, using a broad Scottish accent, and he played the role into the 2010s, including the *Mickey Mouse* television series as recently as 2016.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary) • [6](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young) CBS News counts 65 episodes of *DuckTales* in the role.[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) He was the voice of Farmer Smurf (and, by some accounts, Miner Smurf) on *The Smurfs*, Haggis McHaggis on *The Ren & Stimpy Show*, and toymaker Hiram Flaversham in *The Great Mouse Detective*.[6](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young) • [12](https://www.tvline.com/news/alan-young-dead-mister-ed-actor-96-716555/) His on-camera television work included guest appearances on *Death Valley Days*, *The Love Boat*, *Murder, She Wrote*, *Coach*, and *ER*.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/alan-young)
In the early 1970s, between *Mister Ed* and his voice work, Young left his career to work for the Mother Church in Boston of the [Christian Science](https://www.edgepedia.org/christian-science) church, of which he was a member, establishing a film and broadcasting center and then touring for two years as a church lecturer; he returned to Hollywood in 1976.[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary) In 1960 he received a star on the [Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-walk-of-fame) in the radio category.[2](https://walkoffame.com/alan-young/) He wrote two memoirs, *Mister Ed and Me* (with Bill Burt, 1995) and *There's No Business Like Show Business ... Was* (2006).[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/alan-young)
## Personal life and death
Young married Mary Anne Grimes in 1940; they had a daughter, Alana, and a son, Alan Jr., and divorced in 1947. In 1948 he married the singer Virginia McCurdy, with whom he had a son, Cameron Angus, and a daughter, Wendy.[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/) McCurdy died in 2011.[6](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young) The Guardian's obituary says he was married and divorced three times and was survived by four children.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary)
He died at the Motion Picture & Television Home in Woodland Hills, California, where he had lived for more than four years. Most obituaries give the date as May 19, 2016, while Legacy.com gives May 20; the cause was reported as natural causes.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary) • [6](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young) • [8](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0521-alan-young-20160520-snap-story.html) His papers, spanning 1940 to 2010, are held in the Special Collections of the UC Santa Barbara Library.[13](https://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections/alan-young-collection-pa-mss-192)
## References
1. [Alan Young, foil for talking horse "Mister Ed," dies at 96, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-young-foil-for-talking-horse-mister-ed-dies-at-96/)
2. [Alan Young, Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://walkoffame.com/alan-young/)
3. [Alan Young, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/alan-young)
4. [Alan Young obituary, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/22/alan-young-obituary)
5. [Alan Young Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0949241/bio/)
6. [Alan Young Obituary, Legacy.com](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/alan-young)
7. [Alan Young (1919-2016), The History of Canadian Broadcasting](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/young-alan/)
8. [Alan Young dies at 96; star of TV's 'Mister Ed,' Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0521-alan-young-20160520-snap-story.html)
9. ["You've never heard of a talking horse?" 50 Years of Mister Ed, Television Academy Interviews](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/news/youve-never-heard-of-a-talking-horse-50-years-of-mister-ed)
10. [The Real Truth Behind 'Mister Ed' Actor Alan Young's Peanut Butter Lie, Woman's World](https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/classic-tv/the-real-truth-behind-mister-ed-actor-alan-young)
11. [Mister Ed beat a pair of sitcom trends by a nose, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/mister-ed-beat-a-pair-of-sitcom-trends-by-a-nose-1798282826)
12. [Alan Young From 'Mister Ed' Dead At 96, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/news/alan-young-dead-mister-ed-actor-96-716555/)
13. [Alan Young Collection (PA Mss 192), UC Santa Barbara Library](https://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections/alan-young-collection-pa-mss-192)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Voice performers › American voice performers › Animation and cartoon voice actors › Classic cartoon and radio era voice actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license