Wikimedia CommonsA publicity photo of Bobby Driscoll in 1950.Whether you realize it or not, you probably know of Bobby Driscoll. After all, he was the voice of the titular character in Disneys 1953 animated film Peter Pan, still a beloved classic to this day.He also had a notable role in Disneys Song of the South and earned an Academy Juvenile Award for his work in So Dear to My Heart and The Window. But his further success in acting would be limited.After Disney ended Driscolls contract, he struggled to land notable acting roles. He was also bullied in school and had trouble fitting in with his peers. Eventually, he turned to drugs, which led to numerous arrests, dwindling funds, and a debilitating heroin addiction. Tragically, he met an untimely demise at the age of 31 in 1968 in an abandoned New York City tenement.This is the heartbreaking story of Bobby Driscolls life and death.How Bobby Driscoll Became One Of Disneys First Child StarsWikimedia CommonsBobby Driscoll, pictured in 1946.Robert Cletus Driscoll, better known as Bobby Driscoll, was born on March 3, 1937 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Not long after his birth, his family relocated to Des Moines, where Bobby would spend the first few years of his life.Bobbys father, Cletus, was beginning to suffer health consequences from handling asbestos for his job as an insulation salesman. Under the advice of Cletus doctor, the family moved out to Altadena, California in 1943. As The Bobby Driscoll Archive describes it, Bobby was discovered when he was just five years old. The son of his fathers barber helped Bobby land his first audition for a small role in the drama Lost Angel. The young boy impressed the films director with his astute observations especially when he asked the director where the water was for the ships he saw on set and Bobby ultimately landed the role. Bobby later went on to play Al Sullivan in 1944s The Fighting Sullivans. That same year, he also appeared in Sunday Dinner for a Soldier and Big Bonanza.In addition, he was in So Goes My Love and other films in 1946. But during this time, Bobby was also on contract with Walt Disney Studios, which became interested in him after his performance in The Fighting Sullivans.Walt Disney Productions/RKO Radio PicturesDisneys now-controversial Song of the South first helped Bobby Driscoll rise to fame.By late 1944, Bobby Driscoll had been confirmed for a starring role as Johnny in Disneys Song of the South, which was released in 1946. Though the movie has been widely criticized in recent years for perpetuating racist stereotypes and Old South tropes, the film was once best known for the Oscar-winning song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah and for launching young Bobby to fame.Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten, who both appeared in the movie, were actually the first child actors that Walt Disney put under contract. The two were affectionately dubbed the Sweetheart Team by the press, and the pair would later go on to star in So Dear to My Heart together.By 1949, Bobby had signed a new seven-year-long contract with Disney. One year later, he starred in Disneys 1950 film Treasure Island. While he was with Disney, Bobby would also sometimes be loaned out to other studios to act in different films, including RKO Pictures The Window. 1950 was a big year for Bobby, as it was the year he was given an Academy Juvenile Award for his performances in So Dear to My Heart and The Window. But his early record of successes wouldnt last forever.Bobby Driscolls Famous Role In Peter Pan And His Sudden Dismissal From DisneyWikimedia CommonsA theatrical release poster for Disneys 1953 animated film Peter Pan.Beginning in 1951, Bobby Driscoll was involved in early development of 1953s Peter Pan, including live-action rehearsals. Unbeknownst to him, discussions about cutting off his contract early were already floating around the studio.Though Walt Disney himself reportedly considered Bobby his favorite young actor, seeing him as the perfect, wholesome, all-American kid, the boy was clearly getting older, with a deepening voice and noticeable acne.In 1953, the same year Peter Pan was released, Bobby was dropped from Disney. Hollywood biographer Marc Eliot told Entertainment Weekly that Bobbys fate was sealed after a new studio owner arrived: When Howard Hughes bought RKO, he, in effect, became the owner of the Disney studio. He controlled the money and he hated Bobby Driscoll. He hated Hollywood kids. He thought they were precocious, werent real, and were incredibly annoying. He didnt want Bobby Driscoll to be with Disney anymore.And Bobby, who was 16 when he voiced Peter Pan, was reportedly dismissed in a rather rude way. Actor Billy Gray, a friend of Bobbys, later said: I heard that he was informed that he was no longer under contract through them by driving up to the entrance and being refused entrance into the studio. That was his notification that he was no longer needed there.Naturally, Bobby was devastated by the firing. Not only was he forced to cope with the sudden loss of work, but he also struggled mightily to fit in at public high school, as his parents withdrew him from his old school that was specifically meant for child actors. His peers often bullied him for his career.As Bobby later said: The other kids didnt accept me. They treated me as one apart. I tried desperately to be one of the gang. When they rejected me, I fought back, became belligerent and cocky and was afraid all the time.Before long, Bobby began experimenting with drugs.Bobby Driscolls Drug Use And Legal TroublesThe Bobby Driscoll ArchiveA photo of Bobby Driscoll during one of his arrests in the early 1960s.After being let go from Disney, most of Bobby Driscolls acting jobs were in anthology television series. He landed small roles in M Squad, The Best of the Post, and The Brothers Brannagan. He also continued to do some work in radio, which he had originally begun doing back in 1948. But Driscoll struggled to find anything that would help him succeed like Disney, especially since he had difficulty shedding his child star reputation.Meanwhile, Driscoll had found increasing comfort in drugs, especially heroin.In 1956, around the age of 19, Driscoll joined the Beat Generation, a social, artistic, and literary movement centered around a bohemian lifestyle. Drug use was also common amongst members of the Beat Generation, so Driscoll wouldve had even more access to various substances.That same summer, Driscoll was arrested for possession of marijuana, but the charge was later dismissed. One Los Angeles Times columnist wrote at the time: This could cost this fine lad and good actor his career.Unfortunately, this was just the start of a long list of arrests for Driscoll, who would be charged multiple times for a variety of crimes like drug possession, assault, forging checks, and burglary. Eventually, Driscoll was committed for drug rehabilitation at Chino Mens Prison in 1961.By that point, Driscoll was already struggling to find steady work amidst his worsening heroin addiction and legal troubles, but his prison sentence made it especially difficult. By 1965, he had largely given up on acting and decided to move to New York City in the hopes of reinventing himself there.In doing so, he also left behind his young children, whom he had fathered with his ex-wife Marilyn Rush. The former couple had eloped back in 1956, but they were divorced by 1960. Driscoll had never been a very present father, but he would reportedly lose contact with his children entirely during his final years, largely due to his ultimately deadly drug addiction.Inside Bobby Driscolls Death And How His Body Went Unidentified For Over A YearThe Bobby Driscoll ArchiveBobby Driscoll in 1962, pictured soon after he was released from prison.Not long after his move to New York City, Bobby Driscoll joined the Factory, Andy Warhols art studio and cultural hub. It was during his time with the Factory that Driscoll would appear in his last known movie, Dirt.Hollywood biographer Marc Eliot explained Driscolls time with the Factory as such: Bobby was a curiosity. He wasnt really part of the crowd. Warhol was so perverse, that he loved having Bobby Driscoll as part of his scene. That was Warhols perversity in full play you know, dissipated Hollywood.There were sparse sightings of Bobby Driscoll in the lead up to his death, and its still unclear exactly what happened to him during his final days.On March 30, 1968, two children playing in an abandoned New York City tenement discovered Bobby Driscolls body. The 31-year-old was lying on a cot, surrounded by empty beer bottles and religious pamphlets, and disturbingly, no one knew who he was. Authorities declared that he died of hardening of the arteries, a side effect of longtime heroin abuse.He was buried in a paupers grave on the Bronxs Hart Island, alongside other bodies of unidentified people, many of whom also met tragic ends.Bjoertvedt/Wikimedia CommonsA modern aerial view of the Bronxs Hart Island, where Bobby Driscoll was buried after his untimely death.Shockingly, it wasnt until a year and a half later that Bobby Driscolls mother learned about his death. She actually hadnt seen or heard from him in years, but she was reportedly hoping to arrange once last reunion between Bobby and his father Cletus, as Cletus own death was apparently near.This led to Bobby Driscolls remains being identified via a fingerprint match by New York City police. But it wasnt until 1972 that the general public learned about the former child stars death, and that was largely because the movie Song of the South was being re-released that year.Today, his body remains in the same unmarked grave in New York. Melinda Hunt, the president of the Hart Island Project, working to make it easier to learn about the people buried there, told Entertainment Weekly, Hes somewhere on the northern part of the island. We just dont know where.My feeling is that its not a shameful place to be buried, Melinda Hunt added. Its a really, really beautiful location. There are herds of deer, these red raccoons, and a whole bird sanctuary. So for Bobby Driscoll, its the perfect place to be buried. Its just like Never Never Land.After reading about the tragic life and death of Bobby Driscoll, learn some other heartbreaking stories of child stars. Then, go inside the shocking stories of Hollywoods most infamous stage parents.The post Inside The Tragic Life And Death Of Bobby Driscoll, The Original Voice Actor For Disneys <em>Peter Pan</em> appeared first on All That's Interesting.