Adriana Caselotti

Adriana Elena Loretta Caselotti (May 6, 1916 – January 19, 1997) was an American actress, voice actress and singer best remembered for providing the iconic voice of Snow White in Walt Disney’s groundbreaking 1937 feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Italian‑American parents—her father Guido Luigi Emanuele Caselotti a music teacher and organist, and her mother Maria Josephine Orefice a coloratura soprano—she grew up surrounded by music and opera, even spending part of her childhood in Italy where she attended the San Getulio convent near Rome. Upon returning to the United States she resumed English studies and refined her vocal technique under her father’s guidance, later performing in the Girls’ Glee Club at Hollywood High School and starring in the school’s musical The Belle of New York. In 1935 Disney selected the 19‑year‑old Caselotti to voice the title heroine, a role that earned her a modest $970 payment but secured her place in cinematic history; she remained uncredited and later struggled to find additional work, a situation illustrated by Jack Benny’s refusal to use her voice on his radio program. Nevertheless she contributed uncredited vocal parts to classics such as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and It’s a Wonderful Life, and appeared in promotional events for Snow White throughout her career. In the 1970s she performed on The Julie Andrews Hour and The Mike Douglas Show, and authored a singing guide titled Do You Like to Sing?. Later years saw Caselotti re‑recording “I’m Wishing” for Disneyland’s Snow White Grotto and being honored as a Disney Legend in 1994, the first female voice‑over artist to receive that distinction. She married four times, had no children, and died of cancer in Los Angeles at age 80.