Adriana Caselotti, the airy, innocent voice of "Snow White," died surrounded by whimsical reminders of her cartoon adventure in the seminal Walt Disney production.
Miss Caselotti died Sunday at her home, which had a wishing well in the front yard just like Snow White's, said Disney spokeswoman Arlene Ludwig. She was 80 and had been battling cancer.Miss Caselotti was a convent-educated teenager in 1934 when she won the role of the voice of Snow White.
In a 1993 interview with The Associated Press, she told the story of how Disney chose her from 150 voices. She said she was paid $20 a day to sing and read the lines but didn't realize she was working on a full-length animated film.
"They had told me that it was going to be a little longer than their shorts, which were 10 to 12 minutes," Miss Caselotti said.
"So I thought it would be 20 minutes long or so. I didn't realize what had happened until I went to the premiere. I saw all these movie stars - Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Gary Cooper - everybody was there. I discovered this thing was an hour and 23 min-utes."
Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney, said in a telephone interview that Miss Caselotti embodied the spirit of Snow White.
"She was just that wonderful, cheery little lady," he said.
Friends said she proudly displayed ceramic statues of Snow White and her diminutive friends.
Born in Bridgeport, Conn., on May 6, 1916, Miss Caselotti was born into an operatic family.
She was hired by Walt Disney personally in 1934 to provide the voice of Snow White for his first animated feature. Miss Caselotti was paid $970, a routine sum for such work in those nonunion days.
Miss Caselotti, who was widowed three times and divorced once, is survived by a sister.