Marilyn Jean Rush: Bobby Driscoll's ex-wife

Marilyn Jean Rush is the ex-wife of Bobby Driscoll. Marilyn Jean Rush’s ex-husband was an American actor known for his film and television performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios’ best-known live-action pictures of that period: Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart, and Treasure Island, as well as RKO’s The Window.

Marilyn Jean Rush: Bio Summary

The age, date of birth, and exact place Jean Rush was born are unknown. Marilyn Jean Rush gained much of her fame from being the wife of Bobby Driscoll. At the beginning of their relationship, their parents frowned upon the two of them being together.

Marilyn’s ex-husband, Bobby Driscoll isn’t a name many are familiar with these days, but his voice is one you’d recognize if you’ve watched Disney’s Peter Pan. Driscoll played the titular character, which would be his final role with the company.

When Bobby Driscoll’s film career was almost over, he was able to find steady work in TV, appearing in such shows as Dragnet and Rawhide. Unfortunately, he was unable to re-create the success of his younger years, and his acting career all but fizzled in 1960. It was around this time he met his wife, 19-year-old Marilyn Jean Rush.

In December 1956, Driscoll and his girlfriend, Marilyn Jean Rush, eloped to Mexico to marry despite their parents’ objections. The couple was later rewed in a ceremony that took place in Los Angeles in March 1957.

When Driscoll left Hollywood, he was feeling abandoned, a sentiment from which he never recovered. His relationship with his wife Marilyn was tumultuous, and the pair married and divorced twice. They had two daughters and one son, but the relationship did not last. They separated, then divorced finally in 1960. He began hanging out with the wrong crowd and soon found himself addicted to heroin.

Not much was heard from Marilyn Jean Rush after her divorce from the famous child actor. She went totally out of the limelight.

ALSO, READ; Sharon Mae Disney: How did Walt Disney’s daughter die?

Death of Bobby Driscoll

His career shows how difficult the entertainment industry can be, especially for children, and what happens when Hollywood no longer feels you have the right look.

On 30 March 1968, two children playing in an abandoned tenement in New York City’s Greenwich Village at 371 East 10th St. came across the body of a deceased male. He was lying in a cot, surrounded by beer bottles and religious pamphlets. There were no signs of foul play and no identification on the body.

A post-mortem examination determined that he had died from heart failure caused by advanced atherosclerosis from his drug use. No identification was on the body, and photos shown around the neighborhood yielded no positive identification. His unclaimed body was buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave in New York City’s Potter’s Field on Hart Island.

After not hearing from him, Driscoll’s mother reached out to Disney and placed flyers in New York newspapers. A year and a half after his death, his body was identified by a fingerprint match at the New York City Police Department.

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