A Disney Legend Starred In The Twilight Zone's Second-Ever Episode
Rod Serling's anthology series "The Twilight Zone" may not have had a perfect run all the way through (you can check out our ranking of the original classic seasons right here), but it sure kicked off with a bang. Its second episode, "One For The Angels," was tonally much different than the show's unconventional pilot, and fairly quickly, audiences learned that they were going to be seeing many familiar faces pop up across the show's delightfully twisted and thought-provoking episodes. One such face belonged to Ed Wynn, who audiences would have known at that time for his many stage, film, and TV roles, including leading the Peabody- and Emmy-winning variety series "The Ed Wynn Show." Wynn carried this "Twilight Zone" episode on his shoulders, playing a pitchman who is visited by the personification of Death (known here as "Mr. Death," and played by Murray Hamilton, the guy who would eventually play the mayor in Steven Spielberg's "Jaws") and trying to outsmart him, only to eventually have to give the pitch of his life in order to save an innocent young girl that Death was going to take in his place.
Disney fans watching the episode likely would have immediately recognized Wynn's inimitable voice, which was used to great effect in the animated classic "Alice in Wonderland" in 1951 when he played the Mad Hatter. For my money, Wynn has one of the greatest "goofy animation voices" of all time; I can still hear it distinctly in my head, despite not having seen "Alice in Wonderland" in decades. Check out this video of Wynn in costume on a set, providing the physical reference (and, apparently, the audio track) for the Mad Hatter:
But Wynn wasn't done with "The Twilight Zone" — or Disney — quite yet.
Ed Wynn became Walt Disney's good luck charm
Wynn eventually returned to star in another episode of "The Twilight Zone," 1963's "Ninety Years Without Slumbering," playing a man who believes his lifespan is tied directly to the ticking of a grandfather clock. In between appearances on the show, he re-teamed with Disney for 1961's "Babes in Toyland," and ended up working with the studio so many times that Walt Disney himself referred to Wynn as "our good luck charm."
Perhaps most famously, Wynn portrayed Uncle Albert, whose delightfully silly disposition and near-constant laughter has made him float in his apartment in 1964's all-time classic "Mary Poppins." But Wynn's Disney credits also included some comparatively lesser-known titles like "The Absent-Minded Professor," "Son of Flubber," "That Darn Cat!," "Those Callaways," and "The Gnome-Mobile." Long after his death in 1966, Wynn became a full-fledged Disney Legend in 2013, joining luminaries like artist Eyvind Earle, comedian Buddy Hackett, Muppets creator Jim Henson, animation wizard Ub Iwerks, and voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft, among many others.
Neither of Wynn's episodes made it on our ranking of the 7 most notable episodes of "The Twilight Zone," but give that a read if you're a fan of the series, or a prospective fan looking for a good place to dive in.