Douglas Seale was an English actor, voice actor, director, and producer. His only Disney roles included Krebbs in The Rescuers Down Under and The Sultan in Aladdin. He also played Santa Claus (a.k.a. Seth Applegate) in the 1988 Touchstone Pictures film Ernest Saves Christmas, Boswell in Mr. Destiny, and Malcolm and Seymour in The Golden Girls.
Seale was born in London and was educated at Rutlish School in Wimbledon. He displayed an early penchant and skill for art but leaned toward the theatre after receiving encouragement by a teacher who saw his performance in a school play. He studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and took his first professional curtain bow at London's Embassy Theatre in a production of The Drums Begin in 1934. His acting career was halted when Seale joined the Royal Corps of Signals during World War II. Following demobilization in 1946, Seale joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theater Company for two seasons at Stratford-on-Avon performing in productions, like Caesar and Cleopatra, King John, Henry V, and King Lear.
He made his Broadway acting debut at age 60 with Emperor Henry IV in 1973, followed by Frankenstein, The Dresser, The Madwoman of Chaillot, A Family and a Fortune, The Night of the Iguana, and Noises Off, which earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
An occasional on-camera performer, Seale appeared in films, like Amadeus, Heaven Help Us, A Smoky Mountain Christmas, Ghostbusters II, A More Perfect Union, For Love or Money, and Palookaville. His television credits included Amazing Stories, Cheers, Family Ties, Growing Pains, The Edge of Night, The Lucie Arnaz Show, and Rags to Riches. He also played a character "Malcolm" in the 1995 game Phantasmagoria.
He died in New York City on June 13, 1999, aged 85, and was survived by his two sons from his second marriage, Jonathan and Timothy, and two grandchildren.
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