DOZENS OF HOLLYWOOD legends have been "discovered" in a variety of sometimes legendary ways - Lana Turner at a drugstore soda fountain, Shirley Jones plucked from the chorus line of a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, Marilyn Monroe on a calendar and one of the industry's biggest stars ever - today a 60-year-old rodent - on a train rumbling through the Midwest.
This latter celebrity doesn't really fit the usual "star quality" credentials. He's got big ears (but then, so did Clark Gable), a round little body (but, Charles Laughton wasn't exactly slim and trim) and a squeaky voice - but not quite the kind of voice that put hundreds of performers back on the streets when sound movies were invented.Still, this popular star has been the centerpiece of one of Hollywood's biggest entertainment empires. His face adorns everything from lunch boxes to water towers.
We're referring, of course, to the Walt Disney company's most bankable property (aside from Bette Midler, maybe) - Mickey Mouse.
He's back in the spotlight again as the star of this season's "Walt Disney's World on Ice" revue, opening Wednesday, March 7, and continuing through Monday, March 12, at the Salt Palace. This year's show focuses on Mickey's incredible career - from being born on Walt Disney's sketchpad aboard a train en route to Hollywood, through acting in more than 130 movies, his role in the development of the Disney theme parks and his very own TV show, "The Mickey Mouse Club."
In a salute to Mickey's "diamond jubilee," the show starts right at the first - with the mouse's debut in "Steamboat Willie" in 1928, then touches on other highlights in his career, including his acclaimed performance as the Sorcerer's Apprentice in the innovative masterpiece, "Fantasia," his starring role in "Jack and the Beanstalk" and the television blockbuster, "The Mickey Mouse Club."
Not many people are aware, though, that another Disney character - Dopey, one of the seven dwarfs - was also in the running for the role of the Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Naturally, many of Mickey's backlot buddies will be on hand - Pluto, Goofy, Donald and Daisy Duck, and Mickey's longtime romantic partner, Minnie Mouse.
It shapes up as being a sort of "This Is Your Life. . .on Ice."
-A FORMER UTAHN, Dick Haskell, has a key position in the Walt Disney's World on Ice show.
Haskell, who moved to Utah with his family at the age of 9 and became an amateur competition skater two years later, is vice president of ice show operations for the production. The Bakersfield, Calif., native was able to leap across 16 barrels by the time he was 19, when he switched to professional skating and joined a small traveling show in Europe.
Haskell also studied at the University of Utah and the Colorado Institute of Art.
After three years with the European show, he joined the Ice Follies, making his debut at Madison Square Garden in 1961.
In 1967 he retired from skating to join the Holiday on Ice troupe as stage manager, progressing to company manager by 1972. In 1979 he became company manager for Walt Disney's World on Ice, and three years later he was promoted to vice president of ice show operations.
Now based in Sarasota, Fla., Haskell oversees Kenneth Feld Productions Inc.'s five ice show companies presently touring five different continents.
Haskell is also a former race-car driver and sky diver.
-PLAY DATES AND PERFORMANCES: Walt Disney's World on Ice will play for 11 performances in the Salt Palace arena.
Dates and times are Wednesday and Thursday, March 7 and 8, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 9, at 4 and 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 10, at noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, March 11, at 2 and 5:30 p.m.; and Monday, March 12, at 4 and 7:30 p.m.
All seats are reserved with tickets priced at $7.50, $9 and $10.50. There is a $3 discount on all tickets for the opening night performance (KSL-TV "Family Night"), with $2 discounts for children under 12 years of age for some performances (with coupons available from Fred Meyer stores).
Tickets are available at the Salt Palace box office and all Smith'sTix outlets.
To order tickets by phone, call 363-7681, Monday through Saturday, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. For group discount rates, call 487-6870.