LPWire: Fess Parker To Be Honored with Window on Disneyland's Main Street For Role as Davy Crockett

Disneyland(R) Honors Hollywood Legend Fess Parker on the 50th Anniversary of TV's 'Davy Crockett'

On December 15, the 50th anniversary of his debut as "king of the wild frontier," the man known to millions of baby-boomers as legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett will receive the highest honor Disneyland bestows, when the park unveils a tribute window to beloved actor Fess Parker.

(c)Disney

"In his role as Davy Crockett, Fess Parker helped promote and open Disneyland and through the years he has become a very special member of the Disney family," said Matt Ouimet, president of the Disneyland Resort.

The tradition of honoring individuals with a personalized decorative window was started on Main Street, U.S.A. by Walt Disney himself and has continued throughout the Disney parks worldwide.

A Disneyland window is considered the ultimate honor anyone can receive from "The Happiest Place on Earth" and unlike other Disneyland window tributes, Parker's salute will also include an entirely rethemed building facade which pays tribute to Parker's portrayal of Davy Crockett, along with his sidekick Georgie Russell, played by the late actor Buddy Ebsen. Parker and Ebsen were featured stars at the grand opening of Disneyland on July 17, 1955.

"Davy Crockett" quickly became a national phenomenon (attracting well over 52 million television viewers) and transformed Parker into a national idol. The series' theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," sold over three-quarters of a million copies of sheet music and over 10 million records. At the height of the Crockett craze, 5,000 coonskin caps a day were sold.

The "Davy Crockett" series quickly established Parker as one of Hollywood's top stars. While under contract to Walt Disney, he starred in six motion pictures, all box office hits: "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" (1955), "Westward Ho the Wagons!" (1956), "The Great Locomotive Chase" (1956), "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (1956), "Old Yeller" (1957), and "The Light in the Forest" (1958).

--Posted December 13, 2004
Source: Disneyland Resort