Sterling Price Holloway, Jr. (January 14, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was a character actor who appeared in over 150 films and television shows, as well as a perennial voice actor for the Walt Disney Studios.
Holloway was named after Confederate General Sterling "Pap" Price. He was born in Cedartown, Georgia in 1905, where his father Sterling Price Holloway Sr. was a very prominent and prosperous citizen, owning a grocery store and also serving as mayor for a brief time in 1912. After attending the Georgia Military Academy in College Park, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Holloway made his way through the Theater Guild to appear in the first joint venture of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Garrick Gaieties, a series of revues in the 1920s. With his light tenor voice, young Holloway made a foray into a professional singing career. He introduced the Rodgers and Hart standard "I'll Take Manhattan" in 1925, and in the 1926 edition of Garrick Gaieties, he introduced their "Mountain Greenery" ("... where God paints the scenery").
Kaa in The Jungle Book
In 1926, the 5 foot 9 inch (1.77m), 124 lb Holloway moved to Hollywood to begin a movie career that was to last for almost 50 years. During his lifetime he worked with the likes of Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Lon Chaney Jr, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, David Carradine and many others. Though he was one of the busiest character actors in the movies (and a fantastic athletic dancer), he soon found his niche as a voice actor. Holloway served in World War II as a member of the Army's Special Services unit. He produced a show for servicemen and toured with it near the front lines in North Africa and Italy.
In 1941, Holloway's unique voice was heard in his first Walt Disney animated film, Dumbo, where he was the voice of "Mr. Stork." Walt Disney earlier wanted Holloway to play Sleepy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but storyman Pinto Colvig got the job. He was the voice of the adult "Flower" in Bambi, the narrator of the Antarctic penguin sequence in The Three Caballeros, and the narrator in the Peter and the Wolf sequence of Make Mine Music. He also voiced Kaa in The Jungle Book, Roquefort the mouse in The Aristocats, and the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. His greatest fame was achieved as the voice of the title character in Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes. Disney honored him as an official Disney legend in 1991. His last narrating credit was the Moonlighting episode Atomic Shakespeare. His last film credit was for the movie Thunder and Lightning. Holloway played the role of Hobe Carpenter, a friendly moonshiner who gets help from Harley Thomas (David Carradine). This movie contains nudity and coarse language.
As a radio actor, he was heard on such shows as The Railroad Hour, The United States Steel Hour, Suspense and Lux Radio Theater. Because of his distinctive voice, he narrated numerous children's records, such as Uncle Remus Stories (Decca), Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes (Disneyland Records) and Peter and the Wolf (RCA Victor).
Sterling Holloway's long career as a character actor, with his memorably comic face, tousled sandy hair and squeaky voice, made a smooth transition from feature films to television. He had a recurring role as the lovable Uncle Oscar, an eccentric inventor in the Adventures of Superman series, and also had a recurring role on The Life of Riley. He guest-starred in such TV shows as Circus Boy as a hot air balloonist, The Untouchables, Hazel, The Twilight Zone, Gilligan's Island, The Andy Griffith Show, F-Troop, and Moonlighting (his final appearance on film, narrating a Shakespeare-themed episode).
Little is known about Holloway's personal life except that he adopted a son, Richard, who became a producer. He once admitted to being very stubborn. During his final years, he purchased a house in Los Angeles, where he amassed a major collection of contemporary art about which he sometimes lectured. Holloway was 87 when he died of cardiac arrest November 22, 1992 at a Los Angeles hospital. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. A street in Hollywood was named after Holloway in the 1980s.
Holloway (left) in his first feature-length film, American Madness (1932).
A historical marker stands at the birthplace of Sterling Holloway, posted at the corner of Sterling Holloway Place and South College Street, Cedartown, Georgia.
Sterling Holloway as the TV repairman in The Twilight Zone episode, "What's in the Box" (1964).
