John Donald Wilson (June 5, 1904 – January 26, 1984) was a radio and film writer, producer, and voice actor, born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. He created the title character in the radio series '' The Whistler'', a show that he wrote. His other radio writing, producing, and directing work included ''

The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe ''The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe'' is a 1950–51 American radio drama series starring Sydney Greenstreet as Rex Stout's fictional armchair detective Nero Wolfe. Based on Stout's principal characters but not his stories, the series aired Octob ...

'', '' The Adventures of Bill Lance'', and '' Dark Venture.'' He did voice work in radio in the 1930s. He voiced

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

in select 1938 broadcasts of '' The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air'' as well as other characters in Disney productions such as '' The Reluctant Dragon''. He was the announcer on ''

Strange As It Seems ''Strange as It Seems'' appeared as a syndicated cartoon feature published from 1928 to 1970, and became a familiar brand to millions around the globe for its comic strips, books, radio shows and film shorts. Created by John Hix, ''Strange as It ...

'' and ''

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan ...

''. After more than a decade of acting on radio, he became production head of ABC and later was promoted to vice president. In 1952, Wilson produced ''Mystery Theater'', a Friday night television program in Los Angeles. In the era of live TV, when holding TV programs to their intended durations was a problem, Wilson was noted for keeping ''Mystery Theater'' on time by using techniques that he had practiced with radio programs. Reading scripts aloud ahead of time and marking where optional cuts could be made provided the ability to adapt if a program began to run long. He was known for his work on films such as '' The Whistler'' and '' Key Witness''. He inverted his first and middle names so as not to be confused with Don Wilson, the announcer on ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio and television comedy series. The show ran for over three decades, from 1932 to 1955 on radio, and from 1950 to 1965 on television. It won numerous awards, including the 1959 and 19 ...

''. In 1938, it was announced that he had adopted the name Norman Wilson, but at some point he went back to J. Donald Wilson. He was married to Loraine Wilson, who sued him for divorce in 1948 over numerous affairs, including one with his secretary Tania Karl. Wilson was later married to

Christine McIntyre Christine Cecilia McIntyre (April 16, 1911 – July 8, 1984) was an American actress and singer who appeared in various films in the 1930s and 1940s. She is mainly remembered as the beautiful blonde actress who appeared in many of The Three St ...

. He reportedly suffered a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

in 1946, but was soon back at work. He died in 1984.

Filmography

References

External links

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J. Donald Wilson
on Find a Grave
J. Donald Wilson
on the RadioGOLDINdex 1904 births 1984 deaths American radio producers American radio writers Disney people Writers from Kansas City, Missouri {{US-radio-bio-stub