Harry Stockwell, Edward William Phipps and Bill Shirley: Disney Princes
They don’t get much love because…honestly, aside from Prince Philip, what do they really do? But Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora all had their princes, and now that we’ve covered Adriana Caselotti, Ilene Woods and Mary Costa, let’s look at the men behind the original Disney Princes: Harry Stockwell, Edward William Phipps and Bill Shirley.
Harry Stockwell: The Prince, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
There’s not a lot of information out there about Disney’s first
prince, Harry Stockwell. Maybe perhaps because he’s in the film for the grand
total of one song length and one true love’s kiss? He doesn’t even have a name!
Anyways, the role of The Prince fell to Harry Stockwell, a singer
with Broadway success. He was cast in the role in 1936, well after Adriana
Caselotti, who voiced Snow White. The Prince was the first human male animated by
Disney, and because animators found it a difficult task to animate a man, the character’s
role was decreased to the two scenes from the finished film.
Harry Stockwell performed the role as operatic, but was not
the live action model for the character. That fell to Marge Champion’s dance
partner at the time, Louis Hightower, who was chosen for his sturdy legs.
Harry Stockwell didn’t have many credits to his name but he had
impressive vocals. He wasn’t credited in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
nor were he and Adriana Caselotti invited to the film’s premiere. According to
Adriana in 1987, it was his idea to sneak in to the premiere and hide in the balcony,
which they did.
Harry had two sons, one of whom was legendary character
actor Dean Stockwell. He died in 1984.
Edward William Phipps: Prince Charming, Cinderella
Be honest: do you even remember if Prince Charming has a
single line in Cinderella? If you’re like me, you forgot he spoke at all.
You thought he only sang ‘So This is Love’ with Ilene Woods.
Well, dear reader, you’d be wrong. Aside from singing, he has seven lines in total. And they’re all spent trying to convince Cinderella not to leave as the clock strikes midnight. Anyways.
Prince Charming has two voice actors: Edward Williams Phipps,
who provided the speaking voice; and Mike Douglas, who provided the singing voice.
Edward Williams Phipps had a handful of credits to his name
when he was cast in Cinderella. He was also a veteran of the Second
World War in search of a career. In 1949, he auditioned for Prince Charming and
Walt Disney overheard it and cast him in the role. For a single afternoon of
work—seven lines, remember—he was paid $100.
But Edward was key to the promotion of Cinderella. A nationwide
contest was launched in 1950 for a young woman to meet the voice of Prince Charming
live on Art Linkletter’s radio show. I can’t find a contemporary source for the
story, it’s just in obituaries for Edward, but he said that he was dressed in a
white tie, top hat and tails to meet her, and they spent the night in a rented
limo driving from nightclub to nightclub before returning her back to the Roosevelt
Hotel at midnight.
Edward acted consistently throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, but slowed
down towards the end of the ‘60s and only made sporadic film appearances after
that. He lived in Hawaii for the final decades of his life and died in 2018,
the last surviving cast member of Cinderella.
Bill Shirley: Prince Philip, Sleeping Beauty
Bill Shirley had the most to do out of the classic Disney
Princes. He provided the singing and speaking for Prince Philip, and occasionally
did live action modelling for the character as well.
Like Edward Williams Phipps, Bill Shirley was a veteran of
the Second World War. He appeared in bit parts in movies before and after his
service, and also did regular radio and television work.
His second-to-last official credit was Prince Philip in Sleeping
Beauty. Bill was one of 20 singers who auditioned for the role, and his
deep voice gave him a leg up against the competition. But he wasn’t formally
offered the role until he and Mary Costa (the voice of Princess Aurora) recorded
a duet and Walt Disney could be assured that their voices were complementary.
One of the only sources I could find from an interview with Bill seemed to be from the May 3, 1959 issue of the Indianapolis Star where he said he spent a whole day yelling “Whoa, Samson!” before the recording team was happy with how he’d said it. And Mary Costa is on the record as saying she found him cute, and that he was very shy during the recording sessions.
Bill’s final role was singing for Jeremy Brett in My Fair Lady. He continued singing and working in the industry, but was never again credited on screen; and dabbled in real estate for a period, too. He died in 1989 of lung cancer.
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