JoAnn Dean Killingsworth: Disneyland's First Snow White

We’ve covered her voice actress, we’ve covered her live action model, and now it’s time to cover the first woman to portray her at Disneyland: this is the story of JoAnn Dean Killingsworth, who was the first woman to ever play Snow White at Disneyland.

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When Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted in 1937, it was the kind of ambitious project that only Walt Disney could have pulled off: a feature-length animated film complete with sound and songs.

And through the process, there’d been Adriana Caselotti to give Snow White her a voice and Marge Champion to give her movement. The completed final transformed movie history and launched a canon of films that grew to include Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, among others.

And when Walt Disney had the even more ambitious idea to open a theme park, he knew he’d need his first princess there on opening day. Enter JoAnn Dean Killingsworth, a young dancer and ice skater who would become the first in a line of now over 100 to play Snow White.

JoAnn was born on September 23, 1923 in Minneapolis and spent time in Illinois before her widow mother brought her two children to Los Angeles in the early ‘30s as she searched for work. She’d eventually open a canteen and restaurant, and JoAnn would help out as a waitress.

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Her earnings helped keep the family afloat, but she also used them to fund dancing lessons, and by the age of 15, she’d successfully auditioned for a Long Beach ice rink show.

That show soon transformed into skating stints with the Cocoanut Grove and the Center Theatre in New York; and JoAnn was skating in shows like “Ice Queen of Norway” which starred Sonja Henie and “It Happened On Ice.”

Her skating career came to an end when she turned 18, as JoAnn wanted to focus on acting; she’d go on to appear in films like Silver Skates, Something for the Boys, State Fair, Rainbow Over Texas, Lullaby of Broadway, and Sabrina.

Her dance partner had long been Gene Nelson, and when his wife was casting for a television show at ABC that would mark the opening of Disneyland in 1955, JoAnn secured the plum role of Snow White.

Remembering JoAnn in 2014, Miriam Nelson told the Orange Coast Magazine that she resembled the Disney princess. “She was very enthusiastic, bubbly and always in good spirits. I knew she’d do a good job,” said Nelson, recalling that JoAnn even looked like Snow White, with those dark bangs.

JoAnn took the role and spent a month rehearsing with three other women—Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and a girl playing Peter Pan—dancing “over the gardeners planting flowers under our feet,” she’d tell Orange Coast Magazine.

She recalled Walt Disney’s famous eye for detail, too, saying that he’d fly in daily for rehearsals and park updates, and would watch JoAnn through the camera to make sure she looked just like Snow White.

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“I was worried for a minute, because Snow White was his favourite,” JoAnn recalled, “and he was very particular. But he gave me the OK.”

On Disneyland’s opening day, July 17, 1955, there was JoAnn on the float with the seven dwarfs (she was the only character who’d get a float, because Walt wanted the dwarfs with her), running back to perform her static dance routines in between parades.

JoAnn was one of the main stars on opening day, appearing many times on the television special before ultimately leading the children across the drawbridge as Disneyland was officially opened for the first time. “We turned around and tried to run pretty,” she told the Orange County Register.

And as the sun set on Disneyland’s opening day, so too did JoAnn’s stint as Snow White. She was the first woman to play the princess, but she would only do it for the day.

JoAnn would continue with her acting career until she retired in 1959, settling in Newport with her husband, where they launched a magazine called The Newporter; and then another called Orange County Illustrated. The second magazine ran until the late ‘70s, when the couple divorced. After that, JoAnn began working at Neiman Marcus as a saleswoman.

In 1987, to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney gathered as many Snow Whites as they could find—by then, this numbered around 100 women—for a special celebration.

But there was one problem. Where was JoAnn?

She’d never been hired by Disney, she’d been hired by ABC, so her contact details weren’t with the other Snow Whites; but luckily for her, a friend heard about the search and put Disneyland officials on JoAnn’s trail.

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She joined the other Snow Whites—50 others had shown up—and received a commemorative jewellery box as a gift.

And she recalled to Orange Coast Magazine that she’d spent the day walking around with Mickey Mouse, and when a little girl spotted her, she saw that the girl was emotional, which made her emotional, and she remembered thinking, “I’m with the biggest star in the world.”

It’s fascinating to read about that Snow White reunion: a UPI article says that one Snow White married the man who played her Prince; another recalled wearing sweatpants under her dress for nighttime parades. Here’s a great blog post complete with video and stills and further details on all things Snow White in 1987.

JoAnn passed away on June 20, 2015 from cancer at the age of 91. She had two stepsons and a legacy many would be enviable of.

In fact, she used it to her advantage. As she told the Orange Coast Magazine, she visited Disneyland several times after the 1987 reunion and never had to pay for entry. “I just called them up and said, ‘Hello, I was the first Snow White.’”