This day in Oklahoma history: December 7
WATONGA, Okla. (KFOR) - An Oklahoma man who played the original voice of a popular Disney character was born on December 7, 1904.
According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Clarence Nash was born on December 7, 1904, in Watonga, Oklahoma.
Nash is best known for voicing Walt Disney's Donald Duck. He also voiced Duck's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, as well as Daisy Duck, Uncle Scrooge and occasionally, Mickey Mouse.
Growing up, Nash had a talent for imitating the sounds of birds, insects and barnyard animals. This led him to being a "sound artist", working on films like Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Song of the South and 101 Dalmatians, according to OHS.
Officials say he retired from Disney in 1971 and began doing charity work like performing the beloved character's voice for children in hospitals. He later returned to Disney in 1981 and 1983 to voice one more character in The Fox and The Hound and to voice Donald in Mickey's Christmas Carol.
Nash passed away from leukemia on February 20, 1985, in Los Angeles.