Royal Dano

Royal Edward Dano Sr. was born on November 16, 1922, in New York City, the eldest of three children of Mary Josephine (née O'Connor), an Irish immigrant, and Caleb Edward Dano, a newspaper printer. During World War II, Dano served as a sergeant in the 44th Special Service Provisional Company, where he entertained troops.

Dano's stage career brought him to Broadway between 1947 and 1952, with credits including Finian's Rainbow, Three Wishes for Jamie, Metropole, Mrs. Gibbons' Boys, and Four Twelves Are 48. He also appeared in the stage production Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley, based on Crockett Johnson's comic strip, playing McSnoyd the leprechaun. The role was performed largely through voice alone, as the character was represented onstage only by a blinking light on a large mushroom, though Dano joined the full cast in a leprechaun costume at the show's conclusion.

On screen, Dano built a career across a span of 46 years, becoming particularly associated with cowboys, villains, and portrayals of Abraham Lincoln. He frequently collaborated with director Anthony Mann and actor James Stewart, and accumulated thirteen guest appearances on the television series Gunsmoke. His role as The Tattered Man in John Huston's 1951 film The Red Badge of Courage produced a death scene that Huston described as so disturbing that test audiences left the theater in large numbers. The scene was cut from the final release, and Huston stated in a 1972 interview that he doubted the footage still existed.

Walt Disney personally selected Dano to voice the Audio-Animatronic Abraham Lincoln for the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction, which debuted at the 1964 New York World's Fair, because Disney believed Dano's voice most closely matched historical descriptions of Lincoln's. The attraction moved to Disneyland in 1965, where Dano's vocals remained in use until 2001 and were restored in an updated version of the show in 2009. In 1971, Dano also provided Lincoln's voice for the Hall of Presidents attraction at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida, a version that ran until 1993.

Dano was married to Peggy Ranck, and together they had two sons, Rick and Royal Jr. (1946–1994). Through his son Rick, he is the grandfather of actor Hutch Dano. Royal Dano Sr. died of pulmonary fibrosis on May 15, 1994, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 71.