Born in Evansville, Indiana, one-time Disney favorite Roger Mobley was one of eight talented children who could sing and play musical instruments. Roger was the novelty portion (age 3) of a singing trio, which included an older brother and sister. Performing in carnivals and fairs, the kids eventually made an appearance on Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour (1948), where a talent agent spotted Roger and signed him up.
A recurring role as Packy Lambert on Fury (1955) on Saturday mornings came about in 1957 and he stayed with the show for almost three years. None of the other Mobley children stayed with show biz as avidly as Roger, although he and siblings Joe Mobley and 'Sandy Mobley did make a singing guest appearance as "The Mobley Trio" on the third season of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) in 1957-1958, with Roger providing the lead vocals.
The young actor was already appearing in a number of TV westerns (Gunsmoke (1955), Cheyenne (1955), Le Virginien (1962)) and eight episodes of La grande caravane (1957), along with dozens of other guest roles, and a few low-budget films (notably the animal picture The Silent Call (1961), which was the last role for the lovely 1940s and 1950s star Gail Russell) and the light comedy feature L'offrande (1963)) when Disney signed him to play the title role in the popular "Gallegher" episodes on Disney Parade (1954), that show's highest-rated serials according to the Disney Vault. Roger also appeared in a couple of the studio's popular feature films, notably Emil and the Detectives (1964).
His five-year stay at Disney came to an end when Roger was drafted into the army. He was a member of the elite Special Forces branch--aka "The Green Berets"--and served in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam from 1968-1970. He married high school sweetheart Sharie Barclay, had three children and, having only $6,000 saved for him from his 12 years of film work, needed to find work, so he joined the ranks of the Beaumont (Texas) Police Department.
Roger attempted a comeback with Disney in the late 1970s but only nabbed a couple of bit roles and moved back to his beloved Texas. He later became a pastor of a small rural church there. Upon his retirement from the ministry a few years ago Roger became a climber/inspector of 300-foot wind turbines being constructed all over the country. For relaxation and enjoyment Roger rides his adopted mustang "Sonny" and catches and sells live rattlesnakes.
