Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 10:10 AM Jun 2019

Disney Mouseketeer Dennis Day Found Dead

A body found in April at the Oregon home of Dennis Day, an original Disney Mouseketeer who disappeared 11 months ago, has been identified as Day by the Oregon State Medical Examiner's office, although they were unable to use dental records or DNA because of the condition of the remains, according to a press release from the Oregon State Police. There was no word on the cause of death, nor whether it was the result of foul play or accident. The state police investigation remains ongoing, the press release said.

The body was found April 5 but at the time police did not say where or how long it had been there, nor how it might have been missed during previous searches. Day, 76, a Mouseketeer with Disney's Mickey Mouse Club for two years in the mid-1950s, had not been seen since July 2018, when he vanished from Phoenix in rural central Oregon.

He left behind his beloved cat and dog and his partner of more than 45 years, Ernest Caswell, who suffers from dementia-related memory problems and had been hospitalized after a fall and then transferred to assisted care.

In part due to Caswell's medical problems, there was a two-week delay in reporting Day's disappearance to police; his family was not notified until six months later and only heard about it on local news reports. Eventually, Day's ramshackle home and property were searched along with local cemeteries and canals, to no avail, according to Lt. Jeff Price, second-in-command of the tiny Phoenix police department.

Day's car was found about 200 miles away on the Oregon coast in the possession of two strangers who claimed Day let them borrow it. It was impounded by state police and later searched, but there was no sign of foul play, Price said.

Day was once among the most famous child performers on American television, dancing and singing on millions of black-and-white TVs across the nation, wearing the iconic mouse-ear beanie and sweaters emblazoned with his name. Caswell and Day moved to Oregon in the 1980s and eventually married.

He left behind his beloved cat and dog and his partner of more than 45 years, Ernest Caswell.



Dennis Day and Ernest Caswell on their wedding day in 2011.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2019/06/06/dennis-day-dead-mouseketeer-body-found-oregon-house-identified/3428263002/

9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Disney Mouseketeer Dennis Day Found Dead (Original Post) left-of-center2012 Jun 2019 OP
how jack benny found dennis day ...... rampartc Jun 2019 #1
Not the same Dennis Day Trumpocalypse Jun 2019 #2
ooops! rampartc Jun 2019 #5
Um, not the same Dennis Day Brother Buzz Jun 2019 #3
That's a different Dennis Day left-of-center2012 Jun 2019 #4
Rest in Peace Mr. Day. The Mickey Mouse club was a big part of my life when I was a kid... Javaman Jun 2019 #6
It was a big part of my life, too, even if it was premised on a LIE Brother Buzz Jun 2019 #7
Actually a tenor guitar ... rog Jun 2019 #8
WOW, you restored my faith in...something Brother Buzz Jun 2019 #9

rampartc

(5,835 posts)
1. how jack benny found dennis day ......
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 10:51 AM
Jun 2019


day was a very talented entertainer and a regular feature on benny's show.

Brother Buzz

(37,956 posts)
7. It was a big part of my life, too, even if it was premised on a LIE
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 11:55 AM
Jun 2019

Jimmie Dodd's guitar (Mousegetar) was actually a ukulele.

rog

(746 posts)
8. Actually a tenor guitar ...
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 07:26 PM
Jun 2019

... tuned in 5ths, like a tenor banjo. That's why some of his chords look so wacky. Tiny Grimes was a famous tenor guitar player from the bebop era. He sounded a lot like Charlie Christian, but with only 4 strings. I think he tuned his like the first 4 strings of a guitar, though. Actually, I'll have to check on that.

Jimmy is using C, G, D, A tuning (same as a tenor banjo, also same as a cello). If you stop the video when he's calling out the chords, he's playing the C with two fingers ... 3rd fret, first string (a C note), and 2nd fret, second string (an E note), so with the two open strings you have the triad C, G, E, C.

Here's a color shot of the guitar: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/158681586842998340/

And more info than you want to know about tenor guitar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenor_guitar

... although I found it interesting as a guitar player. Lots of stuff I didn't know.

And yeah, Jimmy was the first inspiration to become a guitar player, although that wasn't realized until I was about 20. But Jimmy was the first one to give me the bug!

Wow! This is an incredible post giving the origin of Jimmie's guitar, photos of his collection, including a Martin tenor that he played before the MouseGeTar. I have not read it yet, but it is definitely bookmarked for later!

https://umgf.com/is-the-most-collectible-non-martin-guitar-a-4-stri-t148794.html

♫rog♫

Brother Buzz

(37,956 posts)
9. WOW, you restored my faith in...something
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 08:19 PM
Jun 2019

I still have my Mousgetar (and the box), and never mind someone stepped on it and cracked it fifty-nine years ago. My mom tuned it for me like a ukulele because she played the ukulele and, I guess, she convinced me it was really a uke.. Hell, she's ninety-five and still plays in her ukulele group (she bought a plastic ukulele a few years ago and swears by it).



It's totally fitting Jimmie's Mouseguitar was donated to CalArts because Disney put up the seed money to get it going.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Disney Mouseketeer Dennis...