Kathryn Beaumont

Kathryn Beaumont was born to Evelyn and Kenneth Beaumont in London, England on 27 June 1938.[4] Her mother was a professional dancer, while her father was a singer.[5]

Beaumont made her feature film debut in an uncredited role in It Happened One Sunday (1944), which drew interest from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who offered her a contract.[6] She recalled: "MGM was planning to have films with British characters and British-type stories. However, as ideas come and go, they must have shelved the idea because they brought me over and put me under contract, then nothing happened."[6] In spite of this, she did play small parts in MGM's On an Island with You (1948), where she did a Jimmy Durante impression in front of Durante's character, The Secret Garden (1949) and Challenge to Lassie (1949).

After Beaumont had relocated to Los Angeles, Walt Disney Pictures began auditioning young British actresses to portray Alice in their animated version of Alice in Wonderland (1951).[6] Beaumont auditioned and received the role, working under voice director Winston Hibler.[6] Disney subsequently cast her in the voice role of Wendy Darling in their following feature, Peter Pan (1953).[6] In addition to providing her voice, Beaumont also served as the performance model for both characters for live-action reference to help the animators. When performing as Wendy, Beaumont was suspended in the air to simulate flight, although Beaumont had a fear of heights.[7]

After completing Peter Pan, Beaumont graduated from high school and enrolled at the University of Southern California, where she graduated with a degree in education.[6] Upon graduating from college, Beaumont worked as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles for 36 years.[6]

Beaumont has been married to her husband Allan Levine since 1985.[1]

• Kathryn Beaumont on IMDb
• Kathryn Beaumont at the TCM Movie Database