Sharon Baird

Sharon Baird (born August 16, 1943) is an American actress, voice actress, singer, dancer and puppeteer who is best known for having been a Mouseketeer.

Early life Baird began dance lessons at age three and won a "Little Miss Washington" contest at five. Her mother took her to California for the national competition and fell in love with the climate. The family relocated to Los Angeles, California, where Baird continued her dance lessons with Louis da Pron, among others.

She has one younger brother, Jimmy, also a former child actor.

Career Baird appeared in her first film, Bloodhounds of Broadway, in 1950. At age nine she began regular appearances on The Colgate Comedy Hour television show with Eddie Cantor. She did episodes of several different television shows, and an unbilled song-and-dance number with Dean Martin in Artists and Models (1955) (which also featured fellow Mouseketeer Nancy Abbate), just before being selected for the Mickey Mouse Club.

alt=A photo of Baird as a Mouseketeer circa 1956Contrary to the impression given by Disney publicity, many of the Mickey Mouse Club cast had some prior experience in films and television. Baird was among the most experienced of these professionals, and performed with the show's "Red Team", or first-string unit, for all three seasons of original programming (1955–1958). Her specialty was tap, but she did other forms of dancing, as well as singing and acting on the show.

After filming completed in 1958, Baird finished high school at Hollywood Professional School, then attended Los Angeles Valley College where she made the National Honor Society and was president of her class. She briefly interrupted her education in May 1959 for a short performing tour of Australia with the Mouseketeers, then graduated from college in 1963 with degrees in mathematics and secretarial science.

In 1964, Baird married singer Dalton Lee Thomas, and, with a male friend of his, worked up a nightclub act called "Two Cats and a Mouse", which faded out, along with the marriage, by 1969.

Film Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) - Little Elida (uncredited) Artists and Models (1955) - Dancer (uncredited) Pufnstuf (1970) - Shirley Pufnstuf The Lord of the Rings (1978) - Model for Frodo Baggins Ratboy (1986) - Eugene / Ratboy (credited as S. L. Baird)

Television Death Valley Days: 1 episode (1954) - Lotta Crabtree Disneyland: 3 episodes (1955–1957) - Mouseketeer Sharon The Mickey Mouse Club: (1955–1958) - Mouseketeer Sharon, also sang in 1 episode H.R. Pufnstuf (1969) - Lady Boyd, Judy Frog, Stupid Bat, Shirley Pufnstuf, Toadinov (Suit Performer or Voice) The Bugaloos (1970-1972) - Funky Rat, Peter Platter (Voices) Lidsville (1971) - Raunchy Rabbit (Suit Performer) New Zoo Revue series regular (1972) - Charlie the Owl Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973) - Big Daddy Ooze, Woman at Phone Booth Land of the Lost (1974-1975) - Sa (Voice) The Wonderful World of Disney: (1980) - Mouseketeer Sharon Dumbo's Circus (1985) - Lionel the Lion The Mother Goose Video Treasury (1987) - The Numbers Lady, Little Miss Muffett The Mickey Mouse Club Story (1995) - Herself