John McLeish (voice actor)

John Fraser McLeish (May 10, 1916 – October 30, 1968) was a Canadian-American voice actor, narrator and screenwriter best known for his work with Walt Disney Productions during the 1940s and 1950s. He is remembered for narrating many of the classic Goofy “How To” shorts and for his role as the Prosecutor in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).

McLeish's distinctive, authoritative voice made him a staple of Disney's mid-century animation, often lending a dry, comedic narration that became a hallmark of the studio's educational and comedic shorts.

McLeish was born in 1916. He sometimes went by the pseudonym of John Ployardt. He was married to Lila Dorothy Wead, the daughter of a test pilot for the Navy.

By 1946, Wead's sister met and married artist William Copley. McLeish and Copley soon became friends and McLeish began introducing Copley to painting and surrealism. The two travelled to Mexico and New York, discovering art, meeting the artists behind the works, and grasping surrealist ideas. It was during this time that Copley and McLeish decided to open a gallery in Los Angeles to exhibit surrealist works. The gallery closed after its first year."

He died in 1967.

McLeish began at Disney initially as a writer from 1939 to 1941. While he narrated and voiced parts in films, like Dumbo, the staff realized his educated voiced would be perfect for their "How to" cartoons starring Goofy. According to the story, McLeish was a very serious and dignified person, and the staff did not bother to explain that the erudite narration was really tongue in cheek, and that Goofy would be doing almost exactly the opposite of what was being described.

He initially began this with Goofy's Glider in 1940 which led to shorts, like the "How to Ride a Horse" segment of The Reluctant Dragon, The Art of Skiing, The Olympic Champ, How to Swim, How to Be a Sailor, and Motor Mania. He also provided the voice for the prosecuting attorney in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

McLeish would do voice work and writing for other studios during the 1940s, such as Warner Bros, Columbia Pictures, and Screen Gems Animation. In 1948, he and painter William Copley opened the Copley Galleries in Beverly Hills to display surrealist art. While it closed after just one year, some of the artists included Man Ray, René Magritte, and Ernst Buthe.

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• John McLeish at IMDb