Voice Actress Ginny Tyler Dies

Actress Ginny Tyler, who did voice work for many Disney cartoons, the animated sequences in the studio's Mary Poppins and for Davey and Goliath and The Gumby Show among other TV series, died July 13 in Seattle, Variety [1]reports. She was 86.

Tyler was inducted into the Disney Legends hall-of-fame program in 2006 for her efforts as part of the stock company at Disney Records, live performances at Disneyland and work on Mary Poppins and 1963 animated feature The Sword and the Stone.

Tyler also provided animal voices for live-action TV and films, including The Lucy Show, Mr. Ed and 1967 feature Doctor Dolittle, in which she voiced Polynesia the parrot.

Other animated series credits included Space Ghost, Fred Flintstone and Friends and Fantastic Four.

At Disney, Tyler was host, or "head Mouseketeer," when The Mickey Mouse Club was reworked for syndication in the early 1960s.

Merrie Virginia Erlandson was born in Berkeley, California, to a Native American family, and the traditional bird and animal calls she learned as a child she later utilized in her voice work. She earned a degree in drama from the University of Washington and began in entertainment by working in radio in the 1930s. She began at Disney as a narrator of albums for Disney Records.

Tyler is survived by a son; two brothers; two grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.