A talented guitarist and musician, he was originally hired by Walt Disney as a music writer. He went on write/compose "The Mickey Mouse Club March" and all the daily opening songs that accompanied it on the show.
After some fifteen years of (largely unbilled) acting in movies, he finally found his niche, and an irreplaceable place in the hearts of America's Baby Boomers, as the moralistic, guitar-strumming, avuncular host of the original "Mickey Mouse Club.".
By all accounts he was just the sort of person he played on "The Mickey Mouse Club" (1955)- decent, caring, deeply religious, and very much concerned for children and their welfare. All of the original Mouseketeers loved him, a love that was reciprocated, and all continue to speak well of him to this day.
Early on played sidekick Lullaby Joslin in the popular 'Three Mesquiteers' film series.