Donn Van Tassel Barclay (1892 - 1975)

Born 26 Dec 1892 in Astoria, Clatsop, Oregon, United States

Ancestors

Died 16 Oct 1975 at age 82 in Palm Springs, Riverside, California, United States

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Biography

Don Barclay is Notable.

Don Van Tassel Barclay was born on 26 Dec 1892 in Ashland, Oregon. He was an American actor and comedian whose many roles stretched the period from the Keystone Cops in 1915 to Mary Poppins in 1964.

Actor/Comedian

He was a part of the Ziegfeld Follies in New York around the same time as Ed Wynn, Fannie Brice, and W.C. Fields.

Don was a silent film star appearing with the Keystone Cops from 1914-1915. By 1918, he appeared in a series of silent film shorts, including Air Fright, Mixed Nuts and Ambrose's Little Hatchet.

He also toured California in the Fanchon and Marco "Sun-Kist" musical/comedy review.^[1]

He was hired by the Walt Disney Company as a Pantomimist in the cartooning department from 1938 to 1964. His movements and facial expressions were studied and referenced by cartoonists on hundreds of projects. He was considered their "lucky charm".

Don's notable work for the Walt Disney Company included:

• Cinderella (1950) as Doorman (voice)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951) as Other Cards (voice)
• Peter Pan (1953)
• Sleeping Beauty (1959)
• One Hundred and One Dalmations (1961) (voice)
• Mary Poppins (1964) As Mr. Binnacle
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) as Portobello Road Passerby (uncredited)(final film role)

Artist/Painter

Barclay began his career as a caricature artist and worked for the San Francisco Examiner before transitioning to performing. Barclay's paintings and caricatures are unique in that they often were painted on the movie lots themselves when he was working with the other actors.

Barclay eventually became such a successful artist caricature painter of celebrities on his movie sets that he was making more money as an artist than as an actor and he left acting to become a full-time artist. He was prolific, turning out hundreds of caricatures of celebrities for saloons all over the nation as well as for servicemen in barracks.

During the time preceding World War II, Barclay spent time with General Claire Lee Chennault's 14th AAF famous Flying Tigers unit (then known as the "China Blitzers") where he illustrated every person in the group.

From October to November 1943, Barclay did a one-man USO show No. 302 for the troops; touring every base in North Africa, Arabia, India, and China with his act and drawing caricatures of the men as he went. When he later returned to China in 1945 he estimated he had drawn over 10,000 caricatures of servicemen.

Two famous and noted examples of his painted caricatures featuring Bob Hope are featured on the official Library of Congress website devoted to Bob Hope;^[2](Old Four Eyes is mislabeled in attribution as "Dan Barclay") and ^[3]"Bob Hope and Elf", . Another example of Don's caricature of Bob Hope was found at auction.

Barclay's large paintings are very rare and collectible as few of his larger works survive while Christie's and other high-profile auction houses have increasingly featured his smaller works such as his painting of Stan Laurel.

Bob Hope collected a series of ceramic mugs featuring Frank Sinatra, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Durante, and Lou Costello produced by Barclay based on Don Barclay's caricatures which were auctioned at Julien Estates auction of the Bob Hope Estate in Los Angeles. Additional rare Barclay celebrity mug collection pieces were found at Hake's Americana & Collectibles and are also included in the definitive Birnkrant Collection of Mickey Mouse & Comic Characters AKA "Mouse Heaven" collection made famous by a movie of the same name

Retirement

Don moved to Palm Springs, CA with his wife Wylma in about 1964. Don died on 16 Oct 1975.

Obituary as published in The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA) on 18 Oct 1975, page 2.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88727109/entertainment-galore-is-in-sun-kist-31/
2. ↑ http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/images/s203.jpg
3. ↑ http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/images/vc186.jpg

• "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6NY-PQ7 : 23 February 2021), Donald Barclay, 1917-1918.

• "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKDN-6FBS : 16 March 2018), Donald V T Barclay, 1918; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #53103, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 659, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JG4M-26Y : 11 January 2021), Don Barclay, Oct 1975; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

• "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP6R-FQD : 26 November 2014), Don V Barclay, 16 Oct 1975; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2Y-NNH9 : 10 September 2021), Don Barclay, ; Burial, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America, El Camino Memorial Park; citing record ID 81846533, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Don Barclay (actor)

• IMDB.com: Don Barclay

• Disney Fandom: Don Barclay