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Sharon Baird, best known as Mousketeer "Sharon" on The Mickey Mouse Club (1955), was born in Seattle, Washington, on August 16, 1943. Her brother, Jimmy Baird, also pursued acting, though his career was shorter than hers. As a child, she took ballet lessons and demonstrated a talent for dancing, later expanding her skills to tap, jazz, and other dance styles.
In 1950, she won the "Little Miss Washington" beauty contest, earning a trip to Los Angeles to compete in the national pageant, where she placed second. Her family preferred Los Angeles' warm, dry climate over Seattle's cold, rainy weather and relocated there. In L.A., Sharon began training with noted tap dancer Louis Da Pron, who saw great potential in her and encouraged her to audition for a children's skit on The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950). Although she didn't get the part, host Eddie Cantor signed her to a personal contract, featuring her whenever he hosted. Sharon later secured a role in the film Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952). After Cantor suffered a heart attack in 1952, Sharon's career slowed, with only a few television appearances following.
At age 11, during a Capitol Records session, Sharon was noticed by Jimmie Dodd, soon to be a co-host of the new Disney show The Mickey Mouse Club. He encouraged her to audition, and she landed a role. With more singing and dancing experience than many of her peers, she was featured in nearly every episode during the first year. Besides the show, she performed live at Disneyland and toured with fellow cast members.
By the third year of the show, Sharon's appearances diminished, often relegated to background roles instead of featured performances. After the series ended in 1958, she continued performing at Disneyland and other events, including a 1959 Australian tour with former cast members. She also performed with singer and dancer Donald O'Connor in Las Vegas. As variety shows declined, Sharon supported herself by teaching dance and studying math and secretarial skills at Los Angeles Valley College from 1960 to 1962. She married singer Dalton Lee Thomas in 1963; they separated in 1966 and divorced in 1972.
In 1969, while working as a secretary, Sharon received a call from producer Sid Krofft offering her a role in his new series, H.R. Pufnstuf (1969). She accepted and went on to work on all subsequent Krofft productions. In 1975, she appeared at The Mickey Mouse Club’s 20th Anniversary Celebration at Disneyland. She portrayed "Frodo" in Ralph Bakshi's animated/live-action film The Lord of the Rings (1978) and appeared in the show's 20th Anniversary Special in 1980. In 1986, under the pseudonym "S.L. Baird," she took on a unique role as a teenage boy with physical deformities called "Ratboy" in the film Ratboy (1986). The film was a commercial and critical failure, after which she returned to children's entertainment, including the direct-to-video The Mother Goose Video Treasury (1987).
Sharon has participated in several Mousketeer reunions and appeared at Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Event in 2005. She remains close friends with former Mousketeer Annette Funicello.
