About this artist
Robert Cletus Driscoll was an American child actor and artist, known for his film and TV performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best known live-action pictures of that period, such as Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart, and Treasure Island. He served as animation model and provided the voice for the title role in Peter Pan. He received an Academy Juvenile Award for outstanding performance in two feature films released in 1949, for his roles in So Dear to My Heart and The Window.
In the mid-1950s, Driscoll's acting career began to decline, and he turned primarily to guest appearances on anthology TV series. He became addicted to narcotics and was sentenced to prison for illicit drug use.
After his release, he focused his attention on the avant-garde art scene. In ill health due to his substance abuse, and with his funds depleted, his body was discovered on March 30, 1968, in an abandoned building in the East Village of Manhattan.