The Voice of Disney’s Minnie Mouse Was From Massachusetts

When she was just a child, Russi Taylor told Walt Disney she would someday work for him – and she did for more than 30 years.

Taylor was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1944.

One day, while young Russi, her mom, and her brother were visiting Disneyland in Anaheim, California, they spotted Walt Disney sitting alone on a bench near the Mark Twain Riverboat.

The Walt Disney Company website quotes Russi, "I looked over and saw Walt sitting on a bench, so we introduced ourselves and shared our popcorn with him."

"At one point during our chat, he asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up, and I said, 'I want to work for you!' So, he said 'Okay!' - and now I do," Russi said

Get our free mobile app

.

According to the website, Russi "beat out 200 other hopefuls during a 1986 audition to win the coveted role of Minnie Mouse," a role she would play for more than three decades in a host of Disney movies and television programs, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Runaway Brain and House of Mouse, to name a few.

As fate would have it, Taylor met and fall in love with Wayne Alwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse. The couple married in 1991 and remained together until he died in 2009.

Taylor began her voice-over career in the mid-1970s as the voice of Ted and Georgette's baby on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. More comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, Russi provided voices for several animated television and film productions, including The Simpsons.

Russi was the voice of Minnie Mouse up until her death on July 26, 2019, in Glendale, California.

I participated in an interview with Russi Taylor and Wayne Alwine in 1996 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. To say it was amazing would be an understatement.

Little is known about Russi's early days in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A Cambridge Public Library researcher named Drew told me, "The most I found is that she moved to California in the 1970s."