Alan Young, star of 1960s sitcom 'Mr. Ed,' dies at 96
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor-comedian Alan Young, who played the amiable straight man to a talking horse in the 1960s sitcom "Mister Ed," has died, a spokeswoman for the Motion Picture and Television Home said Friday.
Young was already a well-known radio and TV comedian, having starred in his own Emmy-winning variety show, when "Mister Ed" was being readied at comedian George Burns' production company.
Fans enjoyed the horse's deep, droll voice ("WIL-bur-r-r-r-r") and the goofy theme song lyrics ("A horse is a horse, of course, of course ... ").
Others were "My Mother the Car," in which a man's dead mother spoke to him through an old car; "My Favorite Martian" in which a Martian took up residence on Earth disguised as the uncle of an earthling; and "Bewitched" in which a witch married a mortal.
Like many series of its vintage, "Mister Ed" won new fans in later decades through near-constant cable TV syndication and video releases.
Young also appeared in a number of films, including "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes," ''Tom Thumb," ''The Cat from Outer Space" and "The Time Machine," the latter the 1960 classic in which, speaking in a Scottish brogue, he played time traveler Rod Taylor's friend.
Howard Hughes, who had seen Young on TV, hired him for the lead in a film version of "Androcles and the Lion," a comedy based on the George Bernard Shaw play.