Just a few weeks ago I was contacted by Teddy, of Teddy & Kenny Shoeshine Boys fame at Disneyland. He came across these photos of himself from the early days of New Orleans Square. Here's what he had to say:
I was blown away when I stumbled across this picture of me (Teddy Miller) with the Royal Street Bachelors, around 1966/67 (above). The four years I worked at Disneyland were very memorable. I can tell you I really enjoyed those years of my youth, until I outgrew the character and moved on to become one of the costumed Three Little Pigs for a short while.
I remember Kenny Bell the other shoeshine boy and I were the youngest Disneyland employees; we had free run of the place, like it was our personal playground. We would get to ride all the rides for free, especially the Autopia before the park opened. The Royal Street Bachelors kept us out of trouble, cautioning us about not spending all our tips on junk. Most of mine was spent in the Magic Shop on Main Street, before New Orleans Square was built.
I also had a parallel career as a child actor. I was in such classic television shows as "Ozzie and Harriet," "My Three Sons," "The Fugitive," "The Lucy Show," "Mission Impossible," "Family Affair," "Mod Squad," as well as the Rex Harrison movie, "Dr. Doolittle."
With Disneyland's proximity to Camp Pendleton and admiring all of the Marines and other service members visiting the park, I was inspired to become a soldier. Thanks for capturing the memories.
I wonder if that was Teddy in costume behind me in this photo?
See more vintage & current Disneyland New Orleans Square photos on my New Orleans Square web page.
7 comments:
coolest story of the year!
WOW, how cool that you heard from Teddy! We always wonder what happened to the people that we see in these vintage photos, it's nice to hear that Teddy had a happy life after Disneyland.
Nice story. It's cool to know there are former Disneyland cast members and employees who read this site and send you stories.
The internet is wonderful. What a great story. Teddy, thank you for sharing it, Dave, thank you for posting it.
JG
Fantastic! How nice that Teddy got in touch with you. Thank you, Teddy - and thank you Dave!
I love your blog and all the vintage photos of Disneyland. This blog was a little special to my family. While looking at your second photo, to my shock and surprise, there was my father in the background (the gentleman in the yellow and black shirt). I wasn't sure if it was him and showed the photo to my mom and she confirmed that it indeed was my dad and the woman, cut out of the photo in the pink shirt and capris, was possible her. I would have been 11 months at the time and mom confirmed that family was visiting and they did go to Disneyland. Small World. Thank you for the wonderful memory.
Gina - Glad you found that photos on my blog. I often look for myself in vintage photos...one of these days!
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