(1) Today, Donald Duck finally receives a much-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2) in honour of his 70th birthday. (3) (Lesser celebrities getting stars this year include Tim Allen, Tom Brokaw and Roger Ebert.)

(4) Donald's first film appearance was on June 9, 1934, (5) in the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Wise Little Hen. (6) He was drawn by animator Dick Lundy.

(7) Though his personality was barely developed at this point, Donald was already being voiced by Clarence "Ducky" Nash, (8) who based the duck's distinctive mode of speech on the bleats made by his pet lamb when hungry. (9) Nash continued to voice Donald until he died of leukemia in 1985, at which point (10) Disney animator Tony Anselmo took over.

(11) After his well-received debut, Donald returned in the cartoon The Orphan's Benefit (1934) starring alongside his lifelong rival Mickey Mouse, (12) an overrated rodent who has had his star on the Walk of Fame since 1978. (13) In The Orphan's Benefit, Donald tried to recite the poem Mary Had a Little Lamb, but was continually frustrated by a group of insolent orphans. (14) (Walt Disney hired Nash as a voice actor after hearing him reciting that poem on the radio in his lamb voice.)

(15) Over the next few years, Donald starred in classic shorts like Mickey's Service Station and The Band Concert, in which he kept interrupting conductor Mickey's elitist William Tell Overture with populist fare like Turkey in the Straw. (16) Despite his increasing popularity, he was still relegated to playing second fiddle to the Mouse.

(17) In 1937, Donald underwent plastic surgery, shortening his beak and losing a fair bit of weight. (18) The new, cuter duck quickly began starring in his own shorts, (19) the first of which was called Don Donald. (20) It was in this short that Donald met his love interest Daisy, who was then going by the name Donna. (21) Donald's most frequent catchphrases of the time were: "Oh, yeah?" "Hiya, toots!" and "Aw, phooey!" (22) Occasionally, he'd thrown in an "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

(23) With his film career going strong, Donald branched out into print, becoming the star of the Silly Symphonies newspaper comic (24) and then his own self-titled strip in 1938. (25) The strip was drawn by artist Al Taliaferro and (26) introduced Huey, Dewey and Louie, (27) the children of Donald's sister Della -- (28) who is sometimes referred to as Thelma or Dumbella -- (29) and a non-anthropomorphic pet St. Bernard named Bolivar.

(30) In 1942, Donald began appearing in comic books, (31) where an artist named Carl Barks (32) turned the incomprehensible, short-tempered ne'er-do-well into an bumbling but articulate adventurer with a short temper. (33) Barks created the town of Duckburg, (34) which is located in the fictional American state of Calisota, (35) and introduced new ducks like rich Uncle Scrooge McDuck, inventor Gyro Gearloose and the terrible Beagle Boys. (36) This Donald continues today in the work of such artists as William Van Horn and Don Rosa, (37) and is particularly popular in Europe. (38) In Norway, Donald Duck still sells more copies that any other publication and (39) one out of four people read the comic every week in Finland. (There is a story that Donald Duck comics were once banned in Finland because the main character wears no pants, (40) but that is simply untrue.)

(41) Donald's movie career was the strongest during the Second World War, (42) when he appeared in a number of propaganda films for the U.S. government. (43) In Donald Gets Drafted (1942), Donald's physical examination revealed that (44) he has flat feet, (45) cannot tell the difference between the colours green and blue, (46) and that his middle name is Fauntleroy. (47) Neither this, nor his Klinger-esque strategy of never wearing pants prevented the army from taking him.

(48) Donald's short Der Fuehrer's Face involved him working in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land," where he was forced to salute pictures of Hitler all day. (49) Luckily, it turned out to be all a dream. (50) This patriotic cartoon won an 1943 Academy Award for best animated short film. (51) Less-remembered from this period is the propaganda film The New Spirit, (52) in which Donald evaded his taxes, until he discovered that if he didn't pay the IRS, the Nazis would win.

(53) Though he was an able-bodied mouse, Mickey sat on his tail throughout the war -- (54) no wonder Mussolini was a big fan. (55) (And yet, the Allies used Mickey's name as a code word for the D-day invasion. The ignominy of it all!)

(56) After the war, Donald appeared in lighter fare, in which he was harassed by his mischievous nephews and a couple of chipmunks named Chip and Dale. (57) He also continued his strong record of community service by appearing in educational films like How to Have an Accident in the Home, The Litterbug and Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land.

(58) He was reluctantly pulled back into politics in 1971, when Chilean socialists Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart published How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic. (59) But the pressure was relieved when that book was banned after Pinochet's coup.

(60) Aside from his mascot at Disneyland, Donald didn't have much of a presence in North America thereafter. (61) He made cameos in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1984) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), but (62) mainly turned into a glorified logo adorning the coffee mugs and T-shirts of the nation.

(63) In 1987, the television show DuckTales -- (64) based on the comic book duck universe created by Barks in the '50s, '60s and '70s -- re-ignited interest in Duckburg and its characters. (65) But, because of his jarring voice, Donald was sent off to the Navy and (66) the series focused on Uncle Scrooge, the nephews and such insulting new characters as Launchpad McQuack and a caveduck named Bubba.

(67) Finally, in 1996, Donald took the starring role in an after-school series called Quack Pack. (68) Even now, at the age of 70, Donald Duck refuses to completely retire from film. (69) He'll return this year for a direct-to-DVD film called The Three Musketeers, (70) the first feature-length film to ever star Donald, Mickey Mouse and Goofy together.

By J. Kelly Nestruck