Wayne Allwine – RIP

I’ve just been informed that Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse since 1977, sadly passed away on Monday from complications caused by Diabetes.

I had the pleasure of meeting both Wayne and his wife Russi, the current voice of Minnie Mouse, on several occasions when I worked for Disney. Wayne never struck me as anything but a gentleman. It always surprised me just how tall, thin and naturally deep-voiced was (certainly deep in comparison to the character he voiced for thirty-two years). Seeing him and Russi was always a treat, and they never seemed like people who thought themselves too important or too busy to stop and chat with a desk monkey like me.