Doreen Tracy
Encyclopedia
Doreen Isabelle Tracey was born on 3 April 1943, in London, England. She is best known for having been a performer on the original Mickey Mouse Club
television show from 1955 to 1958. Her parents, Sidney Tracey and Bessie Hay, were an American vaudeville dance team that performed for Allied soldiers during World War II
. Her father's original named had been Murray Katzelnick; he had emigrated to the United States from Russia with his Jewish parents as an infant. When Doreen was four, her family returned to the United States, where her father first ran a nightclub, then opened a dance studio in Hollywood, California.
Tracey learned to dance and sing at an early age, courtesy of the many instructors and performers who worked out at her father's studio. Her first professional work was an uncredited singing and dancing bit in the musical film The Farmer Takes a Wife
(1952). At age twelve she auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club and was hired. She appeared for all three seasons of the show's original run. In 1956, she was featured in the Disney western Westward Ho, the Wagons!
, and in the third season of the Mickey Mouse Club, had a role in the serial Annette
. She was cast as Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, in a musical number from the proposed live-action Disney film Rainbow Road to Oz on an episode of the Disneyland television show in September 1957. The movie was never made, and when the Mickey Mouse Club stopped filming in 1958, Tracey switched to singing live at concerts and teen nightclubs.
After guest appearances on several television shows during the early sixties, Tracey wound up her career as a performer with a tour of American military bases in South Vietnam
and Thailand
, doing lead vocals for a Filipino rock group. She later worked for Frank Zappa
as a publicist, and became an amateur weight-lifter. She posed for the men's magazine Gallery
in 1979, wearing her Mouseketeer ears and little else. In 2001 a small excerpt from her memoirs, called Confessions of a Mouseketeer, was published in the NPR anthology I Thought My Father Was God. She married Robert Washburn and had a son, but the marriage ended in divorce long ago.
Mickey Mouse Club
The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...
television show from 1955 to 1958. Her parents, Sidney Tracey and Bessie Hay, were an American vaudeville dance team that performed for Allied soldiers during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Her father's original named had been Murray Katzelnick; he had emigrated to the United States from Russia with his Jewish parents as an infant. When Doreen was four, her family returned to the United States, where her father first ran a nightclub, then opened a dance studio in Hollywood, California.
Tracey learned to dance and sing at an early age, courtesy of the many instructors and performers who worked out at her father's studio. Her first professional work was an uncredited singing and dancing bit in the musical film The Farmer Takes a Wife
The Farmer Takes a Wife
The Farmer Takes a Wife is a 1934 play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly based on the novel Rome Haul by Walter D. Edmonds. It was well-received upon its opening night on Broadway on October 30, 1934 at the 46th Street Theatre. The production was directed by Marc Connelly and used set designs by...
(1952). At age twelve she auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club and was hired. She appeared for all three seasons of the show's original run. In 1956, she was featured in the Disney western Westward Ho, the Wagons!
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
Westward Ho, the Wagons! is a 1956 live-action Disney western film, aimed at family audiences. Based on Mary Jane Carr's novel Children of the Covered Wagon, the film was produced by Bill Walsh, directed by William Beaudine, and released to theatres on December 20, 1956 by Buena Vista Distribution...
, and in the third season of the Mickey Mouse Club, had a role in the serial Annette
Walt Disney Presents: Annette
Walt Disney Presents: Annette was a television serial that ran on The Mickey Mouse Club during the show's third season . It starred Annette Funicello as Annette McCloud, a poor, orphaned country girl who moves into town with her upper-class aunt and uncle...
. She was cast as Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, in a musical number from the proposed live-action Disney film Rainbow Road to Oz on an episode of the Disneyland television show in September 1957. The movie was never made, and when the Mickey Mouse Club stopped filming in 1958, Tracey switched to singing live at concerts and teen nightclubs.
After guest appearances on several television shows during the early sixties, Tracey wound up her career as a performer with a tour of American military bases in South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, doing lead vocals for a Filipino rock group. She later worked for Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
as a publicist, and became an amateur weight-lifter. She posed for the men's magazine Gallery
Gallery (magazine)
Gallery is a men's magazine begun by Montcalm Publishing in 1972. It is one of the more popular "skin" magazines that arose on the Playboy magazine pattern in the 1970s...
in 1979, wearing her Mouseketeer ears and little else. In 2001 a small excerpt from her memoirs, called Confessions of a Mouseketeer, was published in the NPR anthology I Thought My Father Was God. She married Robert Washburn and had a son, but the marriage ended in divorce long ago.