Donnie Dunagan, voice of young Bambi, dies aged 92

Donnie Dunagan, who voiced the young Bambi in Disney’s 1942 animated film, has died aged 92. The Hollywood Reporter said he died last Wednesday from lung cancer.

Born in 1934, Dunagan entered Hollywood after winning a talent contest in Memphis. He appeared alongside Boris Karloff in *Son of Frankenstein* in 1939. Walt Disney initially invited him to the studio so animators could use his expressions as a reference, but Dunagan went on to spend a year in Burbank recording all of young Bambi’s lines.

He left acting for a military career in 1952, aged 18. Dunagan became the youngest drill instructor in the history of the Marines and served three tours in Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s. He received three Purple Hearts, a US military decoration.

In later interviews, he said he regretted not telling fellow Marines that he had voiced Bambi. He had wanted to avoid boasting, he said, and feared being nicknamed “Major Bambi”. After retiring from the military, he continued to appear at conventions and film festivals, sharing memories of making the film.