CLARENCE (DUCKY) NASH IN HOSPITAL

Clarence Nash, the vaudeville performer picked by Walt Disney half a century ago to do the voice of Donald Duck, was in stable condition Thursday at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, a spokeswoman said.

“He was just admitted with a fever and exhaustion,” hospital spokeswoman Linda Roberts said. “I don’t know when he will be discharged, but he will stay a couple of days.”

Nash, 80, was taken to the hospital New Year’s Eve from his nearby Glendale home. An early indication that Nash was sick came New Year’s Day, when Rose Parade officials announced that Nash would be unable to ride in the parade as scheduled because of illness.

Nash, whose nickname is “Ducky,” marked Donald Duck’s 50th anniversary last May by accompanying the famous fowl on a whirlwind, four-day cross-country tour.

Born in Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1904, Nash first came to California with his parents as a teen-ager. After high school, he landed a job with a large milk company and performed bird and animal imitations on the side at Los Angeles high schools.

As a well-known performer on the vaudeville circuit, Nash’s most popular encore was an imitation of a frightened little girl reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Hearing that Disney was looking for entertainers who could do animal sounds, Nash trotted out his entire repertoire at Disney Studios. When Disney heard the “Mary Had a Little Lamb” recitation, he exclaimed, “That’s our talking duck!”

Six months after Nash was given a job at Disney in 1933, Donald Duck made his debut in “The Wise Little Hen,” with Nash supplying the voice. The cartoon sparked a long career for Nash and a universal love for the cranky, crazy duck.

Nash also supplied voices for such Disney characters as Huey, Dewey and Louie, Daisy, a bullfrog in “Bambi” and dogs in “101 Dalmatians.” He even did Mickey Mouse a few times and, after the death of Cliff Edwards, Jiminy Cricket.

When Donald Duck cartoons were released abroad, Nash had to learn to quack in Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, German and French. He said he met the challenge because the words were written out for him phonetically.

Looking back over his career during Donald Duck’s birthday celebration last year, Nash quipped, “Actually, I originally wanted to be a doctor, but instead I became the biggest quack in the world.”