Donnie Dunagan, Original Voice of Young Bambi, Dies at 92

Dunagan’s death was reported by several film publications. Deadline reported that movie historian Tom Weaver said Dunagan had died on November 4 but provided no further details. Variety separately reported the death and said Dunagan’s agents, Kris Jones and Nery Lemus, confirmed it.

Variety reported that Dunagan died of lung cancer, citing confirmation from Jones and Lemus. The cause remains a source-attributed detail rather than a fact independently established across the supplied reports.

Dunagan’s best-known screen credit came from Disney’s “Bambi,” in which he supplied the original voice of the young deer. The film was released in 1942, according to Deadline, and the supplied reports consistently identify Dunagan as the original voice of Bambi or young Bambi.

His early acting work also included appearances as a child actor in “Son of Frankenstein” and “Tower of London,” according to the supplied film reports. The Guardian’s account describes him as playing the son of Frankenstein opposite Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff, while also noting that he appeared in other films during his brief Hollywood career.

The Guardian also reported that Dunagan joined the United States Marine Corps after college, spent 25 years in the military and received a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. That account places his later military service alongside, rather than outside, the documented record of his child-acting career.

The supplied sources do not identify where Dunagan died. They also do not explicitly state the year of death in the wording that gives November 4; the year 2026 is inferred from publication metadata and is therefore not presented here as confirmed.